“A CLOSE SHARING BETWEEN FRIENDS …”

by Sister Kathleen McDonagh, IWBS

We have been reflecting on prayer as a relationship between God and us – a relationship in which He takes the initiative, and we are invited to respond. If we do respond affirmatively, then our relationship of love with the Lord grows ever deeper. Thus, that great pray-er, Saint Teresa of Avila, could write:

“Contemplative prayer, in my opinion, is nothing else than a close sharing between friends. It means taking time frequently to be alone with him who, we know, loves us.” (The Book of Her Life, quoted in The Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2709).

“Taking time…” -- a wonderful expression! How often do we say, “I’ll do that when I find time” or “I’ll make time for that project.” But really, we neither have to find time nor to make it. We already have all the time there is – 24 hours every day, 60 minutes in each hour, 60 seconds in each minute. We decide what goes into that time – and we do take time for those things most important to us. Am I taking time for God in those precious seconds, minutes, hours, given to me? And if not, then do I perhaps have to admit that my relationship with God is not yet the “close sharing between friends” described by Teresa?

Teresa often writes poetically, calling on many images to describe the life of prayer. In her last and most developed book, The Interior Castle, she uses the image of a castle to describe the soul. She tells us:

“We consider our very souls to be like a castle made out of a diamond or of a very clear-cut crystal in which they are many dwelling places… We realize that the soul of the just person is nothing else but a paradise where the Lord finds delight… The castle has many dwelling places … and in the center and middle is the main dwelling places where the very secret exchanges of love between God and the soul take place. The door of entry to this castle is prayer and reflection.” (The Interior Castle, “The First Dwelling Places,” Ch. 1).

So, even to begin to enter this diamond or crystal castle which is our soul, we must pray and reflect. And through our early efforts at prayer, we do enter the first outer dwellings of the interior castle. Teresa has no illusions about us in these early stages of the spiritual life. She describes those in the first dwelling of the interior castle as people who are “very involved in the world,” but who try to balance this out with “good desires” and with entrusting themselves “once in a while to our Lord” even if they do this “in a rather hurried fashion.” Yes, they do enter “the first, lower rooms” but “so many reptiles (occasions of sin) get in with them that they are prevented from seeing the beauty of the castle and from calming down.” But Teresa is optimistic about those in the first dwelling: “they have done quite a bit just by having entered.” The longest journey – in this case, the journey to the center of the castle, the dwelling place of the Lord - begins with the first step.

For reflection and prayer:

1. Teresa tells us that “the soul of the just person is nothing else but a paradise where the Lord finds delight…” What in me gives delight to the Lord? What lessens his delight in me? What can I do about this? Pray with Ps. 16:7-11; Is. 43:1–4 Mt. 12:18.

2. For what kind of activities do I take time each day? Where does prayer fit in this list? What does this tell me about my values? Pray with Ecclesiastes 3:1 – 8; Mk. 1:35.