Embracing God's desires

I want to refuse my God nothing and that is still too little... I want to go beyond mere acceptance of God's desires, embracing them with joy, whatever they may be.

My Facebook feeds have been filling up with people posting quotes from today's saint, Teresa of Avila, who - as I'm Silvana Teresa - is also my patron. The quotes range from the sublime to the down-to-earth; there are the well-known prayers, plus lesser known words on prayer, service and commitment to God. But perversely, today I'm going to buck that trend, because the quote I'm using for this post comes from someone else...

We have various calendars in our congregation, with daily or monthly quotes from our documents or the writings of our foundress or others. And as soon as I saw today's quote from our foundress, St Madeleine Sophie Barat, I thought - that could so easily have been written by Teresa!

Why? On the face of it, Teresa and Sophie have little in common. Yes, they were both religious and foundresses, who travelled and suffered a great deal for the good of their foundations, but they came from different centuries, countries and contexts. Yes, they were both practical women, capable of shrewd observation, but I somehow picture them as different sizes. Sophie we know was tiny and naturally timid, whereas whilst I don't know Teresa's actual height or build, I always imagine her as big. She is, after all, la grande Teresa, big of personality and presence as well as of stature.

And yet, beneath those differences, are so many similarities: two generous, whole-hearted women passionately in love with God, prepared to risk all and give all in order to spread that love. Two women for whom "mere acceptance" of anything from God would never have been enough; only embracing with joy - and the whole-hearted enthusiasm that implies - could come close! Teresa may never have written or said those words, but she lived them, daily, in her own cheerful, loving, all-or-nothing way. May she help us, and especially her namesakes, to embrace with joy God's desires for us, whatever they may be...




Comments

  1. Beautiful Silvana;leaaves one wiht much to think and pray over.
    love and peace,
    capecodcathy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely... May you have a chance today to enjoy creation's castle...embracing all its fullness, its secret places, its hidden aspects waiting to be revealed...

    ReplyDelete

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