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Deacon
Tom’s Reflection for the Lay Carmelite Newsletter, October 2023
“Whoever
lives in the presence of so good a friend and excellent a leader as Jesus
Christ can endure all things.” St. Teresa of Jesus (Avila)
During the month of October, we have two great Carmelite
Saints: St. Therese of the Child Jesus on October 1st, and St. Teresa
of Jesus (Avila) on October 15th. Since these days fall on a Sunday
this year, the church will not be celebrating these feasts since the Sunday
celebration supersedes these feasts. But let us meditate on how they lived out
their vocation as Carmelites.
In the above quote from St. Teresa of Avila, we are
reminded that we, as Carmelites and as Catholic Christians, are to always remember
to live out our lives living in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are
to remember that in all we do in our lives beyond our praying the Divine Office
and the regular attendance of Mass, we are still in the presence of Jesus
Christ. In our day-to-day struggles of work and family we are to remember that
Jesus is present to us and we are to respond to all situations trusting that
Jesus will be present to us in our struggles. Further, in our response to those
in our lives that may be difficult to get along with, we are to see Christ in
them and respond with love and patience. It is in remembering that Christ is
present in all our activities that we can endure all these struggles that occur
when we come across difficult situations or difficult people.
St. Therese of the Child Jesus, in her autobiography, while
reflecting on 1 Corinthians, realized that her vocation is LOVE: “Then, in the
excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: “O Jesus, my Love…my vocation, at last
I found it…my vocation is Love!” Such beautiful words for us to reflect upon.
All of us have the same vocation: that of Love. We are to not only love God
with our whole mind, body, and soul; we are to love our neighbors as we love
ourselves. It's our vocation: to have love at the center of all we do in
relationship with God and with those we meet.
Let us always remember that as Lay Carmelites, we are always
walking in the presence of Jesus, and that we are to respond to all people in
our lives with that of Love.
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteAmen. Prayer is not restricted to the time we spend at Mass and the time we devote to whatever form of focused prayer in which we choose to be engaged, as important as these are.
Our focused prayer is a starting point for our prayerful acts of loving service to GOD & to the people we encounter in our everyday lives.
As St. Teresa of Avila teaches, we are always in the Presence of GOD.
As St. Therese of Lisieux teaches us, even our most simple & ordinary acts of service--even as simple & ordinary as picking up a pin--can become an act of love for GOD & others. That was her "little way" toward sanctification that is available to everyone.