Some Help From St .Teresa of Avila To Sustain Our Lenten Discipline on This 3rd Sunday of Lent
We're turning to St. Teresa of Avila on this 3rd Sunday of Lent for some help to sustain our Lenten discipline.
But first, now that we're 3 weeks+ into Lent, just how is that discipline going? If not so great, today's words will help. And if not so great, know that there are a lot of us out there in the same spot.
St. Teresa, known for her fierce holiness and love of God, knows all about a spiritual life that needs some sustenance. She spent years where her spiritual life was lacking. It took a bit of drama to shake her out of her doldrums. Maybe her words today can do the same for those of us who need it. (And don't we all to one degree or another?).
“Alone as I was, without a single friend to give me a word of encouragement, I could neither pray nor read, but there I remained, for hours and hours together, uneasy in mind and afflicted in spirit, on account of the weight of my trouble, and of the fear that perhaps after all I was being tricked by the devil, and wondering what in the world I could do for my relief. Not a gleam of hope seemed to shine upon me from either earth or heaven; except just this, that in the midst of all my fears and dangers I never forgot how our Lord must be seeing the weight of all I endured.
O my Lord Jesus Christ! What a true friend You are, and how powerful! For when You wish to be with us You can be, and You always do wish it if only we will receive You. May everything created, O Lord of all the world, praise You and bless You! If only I could tramp the whole world over, proclaiming everywhere with all the strength that is in me what a faithful friend You are to those who will be friends with You! My dear Lord, all else fails and passes away; You, the Lord of them all, never fail, never pass away. What You allow those who love You to suffer is all too little. O my Lord, how kindly, how nobly, how tenderly, how sweetly, You succeed in handling and making sure of Your own! Oh, if only one could secure that one would love nothing but You alone! You seem, my dear Lord, to put to the trial with rods and agonies one who loves You, only that, just when You have brought her to the last extreme of endurance, she may understand all the more the boundless limits of Your love.” (St. Teresa of Avila)
If something's lacking in our spiritual discipline so far, maybe consider "the trial with rods and agonies." St. Teresa tells us that when they come (and they come to us all), we should know that Our Lord wants to draw us closer to Him by helping us to know how truly helpless we are if we rely strictly on our own strength. And if we rely strictly on our own strength to pursue whatever Lenten discipline we've resolved to follow, this could be why we've fallen off track.
So maybe it's time to come to a full stop and simply turn to our dear crucified Savior. He suffered and died for us. His grace is always at the ready to buck us up in times like this. If we rely on His grace, we will soon be back on track again.
Whether it's our fasting, our prayers, or our almsgiving (the Three Pillars of Lent) that needs a boost, we can rely on God to turn things around.
In St. Teresa's words, "O my Lord Jesus Christ! What a true friend You are, and how powerful! For when You wish to be with us You can be, and You always do with it if only we will receive You."
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee
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