PRAYER OF THE DAY

Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila

Lord,

Thou knowest better than I myself

that I am growing older and will someday be old.

Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking

I must say something on every subject and on every occasion.

Release me from craving to

straighten out everybody’s affairs.

Make me thoughtful but not moody;

helpful but not bossy.

With my vast store of wisdom,

it seems a pity not to use it all;

but Thou knowest, Lord,

that I want a few friends at the end.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details;

give me wings to get to the point.

Seal my lips on my aches and pains;

they are increasing, and love of rehearsing them

is becoming sweeter as the years go by.

I dare not ask for improved memory,

but for a growing humility and a lessening cock-sureness

when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet, for a sour old person

is one of the crowning works of the devil.

Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places

and talents in unexpected people;

and give, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.

Amen.

DAILY MASS READINGS

Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus,

virgin and doctor of the Church

Reading

Gal 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1

Brothers and sisters:

It is written that Abraham had two sons,

one by the slave woman and the other by the freeborn woman.

The son of the slave woman was born naturally,

the son of the freeborn through a promise.

Now this is an allegory.

These women represent two covenants.

One was from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery;

this is Hagar.

But the Jerusalem above is freeborn, and she is our mother.

For it is written:

Rejoice, you barren one who bore no children;

break forth and shout, you who were not in labor;

for more numerous are the children of the deserted one

than of her who has a husband.

Therefore, brothers and sisters,

we are children not of the slave woman

but of the freeborn woman.

For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm

and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 113:1b-2, 3-4, 5a And 6-7

R. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.

or:

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Praise, you servants of the LORD,

praise the name of the LORD.

Blessed be the name of the LORD

both now and forever.

R. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.

or:

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

From the rising to the setting of the sun

is the name of the LORD to be praised.

High above all nations is the LORD;

above the heavens is his glory.

R. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.

or:

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Who is like the LORD, our God,

who looks upon the heavens and the earth below?

He raises up the lowly from the dust;

from the dunghill he lifts up the poor.

R. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.

or:

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Lk 11:29-32

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them,

"This generation is an evil generation;

it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,

except the sign of Jonah.

Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,

so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

At the judgment

the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation

and she will condemn them,

because she came from the ends of the earth

to hear the wisdom of Solomon,

and there is something greater than Solomon here.

At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation

and condemn it,

because at the preaching of Jonah they repented,

and there is something greater than Jonah here."

SAINT OF THE DAY

October 15

St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

Teresa lived in an age of exploration as well as political, social and religious upheaval. It was the 16th century, a time of turmoil and reform. She was born before the Protestant Reformation and died almost 20 years after the closing of the Council of Trent.

The gift of God to Teresa in and through which she became holy and left her mark on the Church and the world is threefold: She was a woman; she was a contemplative; she was an active reformer.

As a woman, Teresa stood on her own two feet, even in the man's world of her time. She was "her own woman," entering the Carmelites despite strong opposition from her father. She is a person wrapped not so much in silence as in mystery. Beautiful, talented, outgoing, adaptable, affectionate, courageous, enthusiastic, she was totally human. Like Jesus, she was a mystery of paradoxes: wise, yet practical; intelligent, yet much in tune with her experience; a mystic, yet an energetic reformer. A holy woman, a womanly woman.

Teresa was a woman "for God," a woman of prayer, discipline and compassion. Her heart belonged to God. Her ongoing conversion was an arduous lifelong struggle, involving ongoing purification and suffering. She was misunderstood, misjudged, opposed in her efforts at reform. Yet she struggled on, courageous and faithful; she struggled with her own mediocrity, her illness, her opposition. And in the midst of all this she clung to God in life and in prayer. Her writings on prayer and contemplation are drawn from her experience: powerful, practical and graceful. A woman of prayer; a woman for God.

Teresa was a woman "for others." Though a contemplative, she spent much of her time and energy seeking to reform herself and the Carmelites, to lead them back to the full observance of the primitive Rule. She founded over a half-dozen new monasteries. She traveled, wrote, fought—always to renew, to reform. In her self, in her prayer, in her life, in her efforts to reform, in all the people she touched, she was a woman for others, a woman who inspired and gave life.

Her writings, especially the Way of Perfection and The Interior Castle, have helped generations of believers.

In 1970, the Church gave her the title she had long held in the popular mind: doctor of the Church. She and St. Catherine of Siena were the first women so honored.

OFFICE OF READINGS

O Lord, open my lips.

And my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Invitatory Psalm

Psalm 66 (67)

Come, let us worship the Lamb, 

whom the virgins have followed.

– Come, let us worship the Lamb, 

whom the virgins have followed.

O God, take pity on us and bless us,

and let your face shine upon us,

so that your ways may be known across the world,

and all nations learn of your salvation.

– Come, let us worship the Lamb, 

whom the virgins have followed.

Let the peoples praise you, O God,

let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and rejoice,

for you judge the peoples with fairness

and you guide the nations of the earth.

– Come, let us worship the Lamb, 

whom the virgins have followed.

Let the peoples praise you, O God,

let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has produced its harvest:

may God, our God, bless us.

May God bless us,

may the whole world revere him.

– Come, let us worship the Lamb, 

whom the virgins have followed.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

– Come, let us worship the Lamb, 

whom the virgins have followed.

Hymn

Come, Spirit blest, with God the Son

and God the Father, ever one:

shed forth your grace within our breast

and live in us, a ready guest.

By every power, by heart and tongue,

by act and deed, your praise be sung.

Inflame with perfect love each sense,

that others’ souls may kindle thence.

Psalm 72 (73)

Why should the just suffer?

How good God is to Israel, to those who are pure of heart.

How good God is to the upright,

to those who are pure of heart!

But as for me, my feet nearly stumbled,

my steps were on the point of going astray,

as I envied the boasters and sinners,

envied their comfort and peace.

For them there are no burdens,

their bellies are full and sleek.

They do not labour, like ordinary men;

they do not suffer, like mortals.

They wear their pride like a necklace,

their violence covers them like a robe.

Wickedness oozes from their very being,

the thoughts of their hearts break forth:

they deride, they utter abominations,

and from their heights they proclaim injustice.

They have set their mouth in the heavens,

and their tongue traverses the earth.

Thus they sit in their lofty positions,

and the flood-waters cannot reach them.

They ask, “How can God know?

Does the Most High have any understanding?”

Behold, then, the wicked, always prosperous:

their riches growing for ever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

How good God is to Israel, to those who are pure of heart.

Psalm 72 (73)

Their rejoicing will be turned to weeping, their joy to sorrow.

I said, “It was pointless to purify my heart,

to wash my hands in innocence –

for still I suffered all through the day,

still I was punished every morning.”

If I had said, “I will speak like them,”

I would have betrayed the race of your children.

I pondered and tried to understand:

my eyes laboured to see –

until I entered God’s holy place

and heard how they would end.

For indeed you have put them on a slippery surface

and have thrown them down in ruin.

How they are laid waste!

How suddenly they fall and perish in terror!

You spurn the sight of them, Lord,

as a dream is abandoned when the sleeper awakes.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

Their rejoicing will be turned to weeping, their joy to sorrow.

Psalm 72 (73)

All those who abandon you shall perish; 

but to be near God is my happiness.

My heart was sore, my being was troubled –

I was a fool, I knew nothing;

I was like a dumb beast before you.

But still I stay with you:

you hold my right hand.

You lead me according to your counsel,

until you raise me up in glory.

For who else is for me, in heaven?

On earth, I want nothing when I am with you.

My flesh and heart are failing,

but it is God that I love:

God is my portion for ever.

Behold, those who abandon you will perish:

you have condemned all who go whoring away from you.

But for myself, I take joy in clinging to God,

in putting my trust in the Lord, my God,

to proclaim your works at the gates of the daughters of Zion.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

world without end.

Amen.

All those who abandon you shall perish; 

but to be near God is my happiness.

How sweet is the taste of your sayings, O Lord,

– sweeter than honey in my mouth.

Reading

Haggai 2:10-23 

On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord was addressed to the prophet Haggai as follows, ‘The Lord of Hosts says this: Ask the priests for a decision on this question, “If a man carries consecrated meat in the fold of his gown and with this fold touches bread, broth, wine, or food of any kind, does such food become holy?”’ The priests answered, ‘No, it does not.’ Haggai then said, ‘If a man made unclean by contact with a corpse touches any of this, does it become unclean?’ The priests answered, ‘Yes, it does.’ Haggai then spoke out. ‘It is the same with this people,’ he said, ‘the same with this nation as I see it – it is the Lord who speaks – the same with everything they turn their hands to; and what they offer here is unclean.

‘Reflect carefully from today onwards. Before one stone had been laid on another in the sanctuary of the Lord, what state were you in? A man would come to a twenty-measure heap and there would be ten; he would come to a vat to draw fifty measures and there would be twenty. I struck with blight and mildew and hail everything you turned your hands to. And still you would not return to me – it is the Lord who speaks. Reflect carefully from today onwards (from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, from the day the foundation of the sanctuary of the Lord was laid, think carefully) if grain is still short in the barn, and if vine and fig tree, pomegranate and olive, still bear no fruit. From today onwards I intend to bless you.’

On the twenty-fourth day of the month the word of the Lord was addressed a second time to Haggai, as follows, ‘Speak to Zerubbabel, the high commissioner of Judah. Say this, “I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overturn the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kings of the nations. I will overthrow the chariots and their charioteers; horses and their riders will be brought down; they shall fall, each to the sword of his fellow. When that day comes – it is the Lord of Hosts who speaks – I will take you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant – it is the Lord of Hosts who speaks – and make you like a signet ring. For I have chosen you – it is the Lord of Hosts who speaks.”’

Responsory

I will shake heaven and earth,

and the treasure of all nations shall be laid bare.

The glory of this temple shall be surprisingly great,

and this place will know peace and prosperity,

and the treasure of all nations shall be laid bare.

Reading

St Teresa of Avila

Let us always be mindful of Christ's love

If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that if we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight.

Many, many times I have perceived this through experience. The Lord has told it to me. I have definitely seen that we must enter by this gate if we wish his Sovereign Majesty to reveal to us great and hidden mysteries. A person should desire no other path, even if he is at the summit of contemplation; on this road he walks safely. All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example.

What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart. Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they took no other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands. If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly.

Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favours, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.

Responsory

All those who abandon the Lord shall perish.

To be near God is my happiness: I have made him my refuge.

He who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

To be near God is my happiness: I have made him my refuge.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, our Father, you sent Saint Teresa of Ávila

to be a witness in the Church to the way of perfection.

Sustain us by her spiritual doctrine,

and kindle in us the longing for true holiness.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Let us bless the Lord.

– Thanks be to God.