Seeds of Joy - St. Teresa of Avila

“Dismiss all anxiety from your minds. Present your needs to God in every form of prayer and in petitions full of gratitude. Then God’s own peace, which is beyond all understanding, will stand guard over your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 St. Teresa of Avila is a beloved saint for many reasons, but one in particular that makes her so loveable is her relatability. This can be seen in an event that is believed to have occurred towards the end of her life. This account is retold in The Life of St. Teresa, a 1912 translation by Alice Lady Lovat (from the French A Carmelite Nun). This retelling begins in January of the last year of her life, 1582, when she had left Ávila to establish convents in Burgos and Grenada. Along the way, she was faced with one obstacle after another. Teresa described it this way: “We had run into many dangers along the way. At no part of the road were the risks greater than within a few leagues of Burgos, at a place called Los Pontes. The rivers were so high that the water in places covered everything, neither road nor the smallest footpath could be seen, only water everywhere, and two abysses on each side. It seemed foolhardiness to advance, especially in a carriage, for if one strayed ever so little off the road (then invisible), one must have perished.” The saint did not share much about this journey, but her companions related that, seeing their alarm, she turned to them and encouraged them, reminding them that since they were engaged in doing God’s work, how could they die in a better cause? She then led the way on foot. The current was so strong that she lost her footing and was on the point of being carried away when she felt the arm of the Lord save her. “Oh, my Lord!” she exclaimed, with her usual loving familiarity, “when wilt Thou cease from scattering obstacles in our path?” “Do not complain, daughter,” the Lord answered, “for it is ever thus that I treat My friends.” “Ah, Lord, it is also on that account that You have so few!” was her reply. Of course, throughout St. Teresa’s life and now into her sainthood, she shows us all how to be better friends of Christ. She also reminds us a sense of humor can come in handy, too. Watering the Seeds: Remember a time when you felt many obstacles in your way. Looking back on those troubling times, how might you now see more clearly that Christ’s hand was guiding you even when you didn’t know it?