Quote of the day, 20 July: St. Teresa of Avila

St. Martha was a saint, even though they do not say she was contemplative. Well now, what more do you want than to be able to resemble this blessed woman who merited so often to have Christ our Lord in her home, give Him food, serve Him, and eat at table with Him [and even from His plate]? [Lk 10:38–40] If she had been enraptured like the Magdalene, there wouldn’t have been anyone to give food to the divine Guest.

Well, think of this congregation as the home of St. Martha and that there must be people for every task. And those who are led by the active life shouldn’t complain about those who are very much absorbed in contemplation, for these active ones know that the Lord will defend the contemplatives, even though these latter are silent [Lk 10:41–42] since for the most part contemplation makes one forgetful of self and of all things.

Let them recall that it is necessary for someone to prepare His meal and let them consider themselves lucky to serve with Martha. Let them consider how true humility consists very much in great readiness to be content with whatever the Lord may want to do with them and in always finding oneself unworthy to be called His servant.

If contemplating, practicing mental prayer and vocal prayer, taking care of the sick, helping with household chores, and working even at the lowliest tasks are all ways of serving the Guest who comes to be with us and eat and recreate, what difference does it make whether we serve in the one way or the other?

Saint Teresa of Avila

The Way of Perfection: Chapter 17, nos. 5–6

Teresa of Avila, St. 1985, The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, translated from the Spanish by Kavanaugh, K; Rodriguez, O, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Christ in the House of Martha and Mary is an oil on canvas painting by Henryk Siemiradzki (Polish, 1843–1902) from the collections of The State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. Image credit: State Russian Museum / the-athenaeum.org (Public domain)

#humility #prayer #service #StMartha #StTeresaOfAvila

We think of prayer as something we do for God whereas prayer is essentially a gift.

Prayer is intimacy with God and it is God who offers us this intimacy. We respond. There is only one Christian prayer and that is Jesus, the New and Eternal Covenant, the union in person of God and man. All Christian prayer is essentially through him, with him, and in him….

This God longs and longs to give, not just gifts, but himself; and it is only this supreme Gift that makes us utterly happy. We don’t have to bribe him with our good works or make ourselves desirable and “worthy.” His love makes us lovely.

The little story of Martha and Mary expresses the truth graphically (Cf. Lk 10:38–42).

What Jesus is saying is that, when he enters our house, that is, when we are in direct contact with him, then it is for him to give to us, to serve and feed us, not the other way round.

This, I believe, represents the reality of Christian existence: receiving God, All-Love, in Christ, letting God love us, nourish us, bring us to our total fulfillment. Well-nourished, we turn to our neighbors and share our nourishment with them. Freely we have received and freely we must give.

Sister Rachel Gregory, O.C.D. (Ruth Burrows)

Chapter 5, Receiving the Gift of God
Choose to Trust

Burrows, R & Jones, M 2019, Ruth Burrows: Essential Writings, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York.

Featured image: This oil on canvas painting of the Kitchen Scene with Christ in the House of Martha and Mary by the Spanish master Diego Velázquez (1599–1660) was probably painted in 1618, according to art historians and scholars at the National Gallery in London. Their gallery label provides fascinating detail concerning this artwork:

A maid pounds garlic in a mortar, and other ingredients lie scattered on the table: fish, eggs, a shrivelled red pepper and an earthenware jug probably containing olive oil. An older woman points towards her, as if giving her instructions or telling her off for working too hard, or she may be drawing our attention to the figures in the background.

The scene visible in the upper right is taken from the New Testament (Luke 10: 38–42). As Mary sits at Jesus’s feet, listening to him, her sister Martha complains that she should not be left to serve the food alone. Christ replies, ‘Mary has taken that good part, which shall not be taken away from her’. We view it through an opening, although it has also been read as a reflection in a mirror or a picture hung on the wall.

The figures in the foreground, dressed in contemporary costume, may be intended as a latter-day Martha and Mary.
Image credit: Art UK (Public domain)

https://carmelitequotes.blog/2024/07/28/ruth-marthmary/

#Christ #gift #love #nourishment #prayer #RuthBurrows #spiritualDirection #SrRachelGregoryOCD #StMartha #StMaryOfBethany

Today's Flickr photo with the most hits: the church of St Martha, in Tarascon, France.

The church / sanctuary is built on the site of her house. She moved to Tarascon from Bethany in 48 CE, taming a water dragon that was terrifying the locality. The citizens butchered it anyway.

(Frankly, I might have left at that point).

#tarascon #dragon #StMartha #church #france

St. Raphael Kalinowski’s years of hard labor in Siberia became a great grace that prepared him for life as a Discalced Carmelite; he knew that life’s biggest & most difficult problems are resolved on one’s knees.

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#StRaphaelKalinowski #SaintOfTheDay #DiscalcedCarmelite #CarmeliteQuotes #Carmelite #catholic #feastday #SaintQuote #spirituality #StMartha #StMary #Bethany #Siberia #grace