Discerning Hearts - Catholic Podcasts

St. Teresa of Avila on friendship with Christ, his sacred humanity, and why growing deeper in prayer always brings us closer to Jesus About This Episode What does it mean to grow deeper in prayer? St. Teresa of Avila gives us a simple answer: stay close to Jesus and learn to know him as a true friend. In this episode of The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart, Kris McGregor reflects on St. Teresa’s teaching that even at the heights of contemplation, Christ remains the way. Prayer does not lead us beyond Jesus. It draws us into a deeper relationship with him. St. Teresa speaks especially about the sacred humanity of Christ. Jesus is truly God and truly man, and his human life remains essential to our prayer. We come to know him by returning to the Gospel, watching how he receives people, how he prays, how he suffers, how he loves, and how he entrusts himself to the Father. For St. Teresa, this is not simply a matter of studying the example of Jesus. It is friendship. Christ is the one who strengthens us, teaches us, accompanies us when we are troubled, and never abandons us. She also reminds us that prayer should be lived in freedom. We do not have to manufacture spiritual experiences or compare our prayer with someone else’s. We place ourselves in God’s hands and allow him to lead. At the heart of the reading is one of St. Teresa’s simplest and most beautiful insights: “love calls for love in return.” As we remember the love Christ has shown us and recognize his faithfulness in our own lives, prayer becomes our response to the love we have already received. For anyone searching for a deeper spiritual life, St. Teresa points us toward a path that remains both simple and demanding: behold the life of Jesus, remember his love, keep him near, and allow friendship with Christ to deepen. Discerning Hearts Reflection Question When you think about growing deeper in prayer, what are you hoping to find? How does St. Teresa’s emphasis on friendship with Christ change the way you understand that desire? St. Teresa tells us to remain close to the sacred humanity of Christ. Is there a particular moment in the life of Jesus that helps you know him more personally or trust him more deeply? St. Teresa says that a person should “walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands.” Where might anxiety, comparison, or the desire to make something happen be affecting your prayer? St. Teresa writes that “love calls for love in return.” How has remembering the love and faithfulness of Christ helped you respond to him more freely? From The Office of Readings on the feast of St. Teresa of Avila 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. Excerpts from the English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes), © 1974, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved. Scripture for Reflection Philippians 4:13, RSV-CE “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” John 15:15, RSV-CE “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 14:6, RSV-CE “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.’” 1 John 4:19, RSV-CE “We love, because he first loved us.” St. Teresa of Avila “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.” “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.” “Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near.” “For love calls for love in return.” Continue the Journey with Discerning Hearts ➜ Explore Discerning Hearts ➜ Discerning Hearts Series Programming ➜ The Spiritual Journey with Kris McGregor Continue Exploring ➜ St. Teresa of Avila – Mystic and Doctor of the Church Explore Discerning Hearts resources on St. Teresa’s life, writings, prayer, and spiritual teaching. ➜ The Interior Castle with Dr. Anthony Lilles Journey through St. Teresa’s teaching on the interior life, prayer, and the soul’s growth in union with God. ➜ The Interior Castle – Complete Audiobook by St. Teresa of Avila Listen to the complete spiritual classic read by Kris McGregor. ➜ Carmelite Spirituality and Prayer – Discerning Hearts Explore St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and the wider Carmelite tradition of prayer and contemplation. The post The Path to Deeper Prayer – St. Teresa of Avila on Christ as Our True Friend | The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

St. Teresa of Avila, Part 2 – The Doctors of the Church: The Charism of Wisdom with Dr. Matthew Bunson Born: March 28, 1515, Gotarrendura, Spain Died: October 4, 1582, Alba de Tormes, Spain Nationality: Spanish Dr. Matthew Bunson and Kris McGregor continue their look into the life, spirituality, and teachings of St. Teresa of Avila; her profound insights on prayer and the Christian journey towards holiness, and her view of prayer as an “exercise of love,” wherein true prayer entails a deep, loving relationship with God. St. Teresa, often misunderstood as simply mystical, rooted her spirituality in the Church and its sacraments. She sought not only personal sanctity but also communal guidance, sharing her wisdom with family, laypeople, and her Carmelite sisters. St. Teresa’s progression from the “four waters” in her early work, The Life, to the “interior castle” in her later years reflects an evolving understanding of the spiritual life. This journey, as she outlines, requires humility, persistence, and a deep commitment to the sacraments. Teresa’s experiences, particularly her “interior castle” model, demonstrate that as one grows in prayer, there’s a structured journey with different stages of spiritual development, each needing discipline and grace. For more on St. Teresa of Avila and her teachings, visit her Discerning Hearts page Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions How can you approach prayer as an exercise of love and deepen your relationship with God in your daily life? Reflect on the Trinitarian nature of God’s love; how does this inspire you to share love with others? In what ways do the sacraments of the Church support your spiritual journey and deepen your prayer life? How can you cultivate humility as you strive to grow closer to God, avoiding pride in your prayer life? What steps can you take to begin or deepen your practice of prayer using St. Teresa’s guidance? As you reflect on Teresa’s stages of spiritual growth, where do you feel you are in your journey, and how can you continue to grow? How can you surrender your desires to align more closely with God’s will for you? What insights from Teresa’s “Interior Castle” can help you recognize and appreciate the stages of your own spiritual life? How do you protect yourself from spiritual pride, especially when experiencing deeper moments in prayer? How can you use the strength you gain from prayer to serve others, as Teresa encourages? From Vatican.va, an excerpt from the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI From the General Audience on St. Teresa of Avila “It is far from easy to sum up in a few words Teresa’s profound and articulate spirituality. I would like to mention a few essential points. In the first place St Teresa proposes the evangelical virtues as the basis of all Christian and human life and in particular, detachment from possessions, that is, evangelical poverty, and this concerns all of us; love for one another as an essential element of community and social life; humility as love for the truth; determination as a fruit of Christian daring; theological hope, which she describes as the thirst for living water. Then we should not forget the human virtues: affability, truthfulness, modesty, courtesy, cheerfulness, culture. Secondly, St Teresa proposes a profound harmony with the great biblical figures and eager listening to the word of God. She feels above all closely in tune with the Bride in the Song of Songs and with the Apostle Paul, as well as with Christ in the Passion and with Jesus in the Eucharist. The Saint then stresses how essential prayer is. Praying, she says, “means being on terms of friendship with God frequently conversing in secret with him who, we know, loves us” (Vida 8, 5). St Teresa’s idea coincides with Thomas Aquinas’ definition of theological charity as “amicitia quaedam hominis ad Deum”, a type of human friendship with God, who offered humanity his friendship first; it is from God that the initiative comes (cf. Summa Theologiae II-II, 23, 1). Prayer is life and develops gradually, in pace with the growth of Christian life: it begins with vocal prayer, passes through interiorization by means of meditation and recollection, until it attains the union of love with Christ and with the Holy Trinity. Obviously, in the development of prayer climbing to the highest steps does not mean abandoning the previous type of prayer. Rather, it is a gradual deepening of the relationship with God that envelops the whole of life. Rather than a pedagogy Teresa’s is a true “mystagogy” of prayer: she teaches those who read her works how to pray by praying with them. Indeed, she often interrupts her account or exposition with a prayerful outburst. Another subject dear to the Saint is the centrality of Christ’s humanity. For Teresa, in fact, Christian life is the personal relationship with Jesus that culminates in union with him through grace, love and imitation. Hence the importance she attaches to meditation on the Passion and on the Eucharist as the presence of Christ in the Church for the life of every believer, and as the heart of the Liturgy. St Teresa lives out unconditional love for the Church: she shows a lively “sensus Ecclesiae”, in the face of the episodes of division and conflict in the Church of her time. She reformed the Carmelite Order with the intention of serving and defending the “Holy Roman Catholic Church”, and was willing to give her life for the Church (cf. Vida, 33,5). A final essential aspect of Teresian doctrine which I would like to emphasize is perfection, as the aspiration of the whole of Christian life and as its ultimate goal. The Saint has a very clear idea of the “fullness” of Christ, relived by the Christian. At the end of the route through The Interior Castle, in the last “room”, Teresa describes this fullness, achieved in the indwelling of the Trinity, in union with Christ through the mystery of his humanity.” For more visit Vatican.va For more from Dr. Matthew Bunson, check out his Discerning Hearts page. Dr. Matthew E. Bunson is a Register senior editor and a senior contributor to EWTN News. For the past 20 years, he has been active in the area of Catholic social communications and education, including writing, editing, and teaching on a variety of topics related to Church history, the papacy, the saints and Catholic culture. He is faculty chair at Catholic Distance University, a senior fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and the author or co-author of over 50 books including The Encyclopedia of Catholic History, The Pope Encyclopedia, We Have a Pope! Benedict XVI, The Saints Encyclopedia and best-selling biographies of St. Damien of Molokai and St. Kateri Tekakwitha. The post St. Teresa of Avila, Part 2 – The Doctors of the Church: The Charism of Wisdom with Dr. Matthew Bunson – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

St. Teresa of Avila, Part 1– The Doctors of the Church: The Charism of Wisdom with Dr. Matthew Bunson Born: March 28, 1515, Gotarrendura, Spain Died: October 4, 1582, Alba de Tormes, Spain Nationality: Spanish Dr. Matthew Bunson and Kris McGregor discuss the life and legacy of St. Teresa of Ávila, a Spanish Carmelite nun and one of the first female Doctors of the Church. St. Teresa was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970, recognizing her profound teachings on prayer and the mystical life. Her autobiography reveals her early influences, like her father’s piety and her desire to become a martyr, as well as her struggles with pride and materialism. Despite these challenges, she entered the Carmelite convent and later reformed the Carmelite order, emphasizing a return to simplicity, prayer, and devotion. Her encounter with the Inquisition was due to her family’s Jewish heritage and how, like many saints of her time, she submitted to Church authority, deepening her commitment rather than rebelling. St. Teresa’s relationship with other saints, including St. John of the Cross, was instrumental in establishing the Discalced Carmelites, a reformed branch of the Carmelites devoted to austerity and contemplative prayer. Her death in 1582 marked the culmination of a life dedicated to mystical union with Christ, evident in her final words expressing her readiness to meet her Lord. For more on St. Teresa of Avila and her teachings, visit her Discerning Hearts page Discerning Hearts Reflection Questions How does St. Teresa’s teaching that holiness and deep prayer are accessible to everyone challenge your view of your own spiritual life? In what ways could reflecting on your own life’s journey, including your struggles and triumphs, bring you closer to God? How might you open yourself to a deeper understanding of mystical prayer and contemplation, as modeled by St. Teresa? What does Teresa’s respect for the Church’s authority, even amid the Inquisition, teach you about obedience and trust in your own faith? Where do you see a need for personal or communal reform in your life, and how can you bring about positive change with humility and dedication? How can you foster a prayer life that allows you to experience God’s presence more deeply, as Teresa did through her devotions? In what areas of your life might you be called to abandon personal pride and embrace a deeper, self-giving humility? How can you draw inspiration from Teresa’s writings to enrich your own journey toward spiritual growth and understanding? From Vatican.va, an excerpt from the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI From the General Audience on St. Teresa of Avila ”St. Teresa, whose name was Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada, was born in Avila, Spain, in 1515. In her autobiography she mentions some details of her childhood: she was born into a large family, her “father and mother, who were devout and feared God”, into a large family. She had three sisters and nine brothers. While she was still a child and not yet nine years old she had the opportunity to read the lives of several Martyrs which inspired in her such a longing for martyrdom that she briefly ran away from home in order to die a Martyr’s death and to go to Heaven (cf. Vida, [Life], 1, 4); “I want to see God”, the little girl told her parents. A few years later Teresa was to speak of her childhood reading and to state that she had discovered in it the way of truth which she sums up in two fundamental principles. On the one hand was the fact that “all things of this world will pass away” while on the other God alone is “for ever, ever, ever”, a topic that recurs in her best known poem: “Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things are passing away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Whoever has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices”. She was about 12 years old when her mother died and she implored the Virgin Most Holy to be her mother (cf. Vida, I, 7). If in her adolescence the reading of profane books had led to the distractions of a worldly life, her experience as a pupil of the Augustinian nuns of Santa María de las Gracias de Avila and her reading of spiritual books, especially the classics of Franciscan spirituality, introduced her to recollection and prayer. When she was 20 she entered the Carmelite Monastery of the Incarnation, also in Avila. In her religious life she took the name “Teresa of Jesus”. Three years later she fell seriously ill, so ill that she remained in a coma for four days, looking as if she were dead (cf. Vida, 5, 9). In the fight against her own illnesses too the Saint saw the combat against weaknesses and the resistance to God’s call: “I wished to live”, she wrote, “but I saw clearly that I was not living, but rather wrestling with the shadow of death; there was no one to give me life, and I was not able to take it. He who could have given it to me had good reasons for not coming to my aid, seeing that he had brought me back to himself so many times, and I as often had left him” (Vida, 7, 8). In 1543 she lost the closeness of her relatives; her father died and all her siblings, one after another, emigrated to America. In Lent 1554, when she was 39 years old, Teresa reached the climax of her struggle against her own weaknesses. The fortuitous discovery of the statue of “a Christ most grievously wounded”, left a deep mark on her life (cf. Vida, 9). The Saint, who in that period felt deeply in tune with the St Augustine of the Confessions, thus describes the decisive day of her mystical experience: “and… a feeling of the presence of God would come over me unexpectedly, so that I could in no wise doubt either that he was within me, or that I was wholly absorbed in him” (Vida, 10, 1). Parallel to her inner development, the Saint began in practice to realize her ideal of the reform of the Carmelite Order: in 1562 she founded the first reformed Carmel in Avila, with the support of the city’s Bishop, Don Alvaro de Mendoza, and shortly afterwards also received the approval of John Baptist Rossi, the Order’s Superior General. In the years that followed, she continued her foundations of new Carmelite convents, 17 in all. Her meeting with St John of the Cross was fundamental. With him, in 1568, she set up the first convent of Discalced Carmelites in Duruelo, not far from Avila. In 1580 she obtained from Rome the authorization for her reformed Carmels as a separate, autonomous Province. This was the starting point for the Discalced Carmelite Order. Indeed, Teresa’s earthly life ended while she was in the middle of her founding activities. She died on the night of 15 October 1582 in Alba de Tormes, after setting up the Carmelite Convent in Burgos, while on her way back to Avila. Her last humble words were: “After all I die as a child of the Church”, and “O my Lord and my Spouse, the hour that I have longed for has come. It is time to meet one another”. Teresa spent her entire life for the whole Church although she spent it in Spain. She was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1614 and canonized by Gregory XV in 1622. The Servant of God Paul VI proclaimed her a “Doctor of the Church” in 1970. Teresa of Jesus had no academic education but always set great store by the teachings of theologians, men of letters and spiritual teachers. As a writer, she always adhered to what she had lived personally through or had seen in the experience of others (cf. Prologue to The Way of Perfection), in other words basing herself on her own first-hand knowledge. Teresa had the opportunity to build up relations of spiritual friendship with many Saints and with St John of the Cross in particular. At the same time she nourished herself by reading the Fathers of the Church, St Jerome, St Gregory the Great and St Augustine. Among her most important works we should mention first of all her autobiography, El libro de la vida (the book of life), which she called Libro de las misericordias del Señor [book of the Lord’s mercies].” For more visit Vatican.va For more from Dr. Matthew Bunson, check out his Discerning Hearts page. Dr. Matthew E. Bunson is a Register senior editor and a senior contributor to EWTN News. For the past 20 years, he has been active in the area of Catholic social communications and education, including writing, editing, and teaching on a variety of topics related to Church history, the papacy, the saints and Catholic culture. He is faculty chair at Catholic Distance University, a senior fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and the author or co-author of over 50 books including The Encyclopedia of Catholic History, The Pope Encyclopedia, We Have a Pope! Benedict XVI, The Saints Encyclopedia and best-selling biographies of St. Damien of Molokai and St. Kateri Tekakwitha. The post St. Teresa of Avila, Part 1 – The Doctors of the Church: The Charism of Wisdom with Dr. Matthew Bunson – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

A Novena to St. John Paul II – Day Three Day Three Reflection by Saint John Paul II: “Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of States, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid.” Prayer for the Intercession of St. John Paul II O Blessed Trinity, we thank you for having graced the Church with Saint John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your fatherly care, the glory of the Cross of Christ and the splendor of the Spirit of love to shine through him. Trusting fully in your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd. He has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you. Grant us, by his intercession, and according to your will, the graces we implore, through Christ our Lord. Amen. A Prayer composed by St. John Paul II O God, You are our Creator. You are good and Your mercy knows no bounds. To You arises the praise of every creature. O God, You have given us an inner law by which we must live. To do Your will is our task. To follow Your ways is to know peace of heart. To You we offer our homage. Guide us on all the paths we travel upon this earth. Free us from all the evil tendencies which lead our hearts away from Your will. Never allow us to stray from You. O God, judge of all humankind, help us to be included among Your chosen ones on the last day. O God, Author of peace and justice, give us true joy and authentic love, and a lasting solidarity among peoples. Give us Your everlasting gifts. Amen! May the God of mercy, the God of love, the God of peace bless each of you and all the members of your families! [The Pope Speaks 37/4, 1992, 213] St. John Paul II, pray for us. Amen For the full 9-day Novena to St. John Paul II with Mp3 audio and text visit here The post Day 3 – A Novena to St. John Paul II – Discerning Hearts Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.

Thursday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast As you begin, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. For at least the next few moments, surrender all the cares and concerns of this day to the Lord. Say slowly from your heart “Jesus, I Trust In You…You Take Over” Become aware that He is with you, looking upon you with love, wanting to be heard deep within in your heart… From the Holy Gospel According to St. Luke 11:47-54 Jesus said: ‘Alas for you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building. ‘And that is why the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will slaughter and persecute, so that this generation will have to answer for every prophet’s blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary.” Yes, I tell you, this generation will have to answer for it all. ‘Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.’ When he left the house, the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to catch him out in something he might say. What word made this passage come alive for you? What did you sense the Lord saying to you? Once more give the Lord an opportunity to speak to you: Jesus said: ‘Alas for you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building. ‘And that is why the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will slaughter and persecute, so that this generation will have to answer for every prophet’s blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary.” Yes, I tell you, this generation will have to answer for it all. ‘Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.’ When he left the house, the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to catch him out in something he might say. What did your heart feel as you listened? What did you sense the Lord saying to you? Once more, through Him, with Him and in Him listen to the Word: Jesus said: ‘Alas for you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building. ‘And that is why the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will slaughter and persecute, so that this generation will have to answer for every prophet’s blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary.” Yes, I tell you, this generation will have to answer for it all. ‘Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.’ When he left the house, the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to catch him out in something he might say. What touched your heart in this time of prayer? What did your heart feel as you prayed? What do you hope to carry with you from this time with the Lord? Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen Excerpt from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, copyright (c) 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd. and Doubleday, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc. Reprinted by Permission. The post Thursday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time – A Time of Lectio Divina for the Discerning Heart Podcast appeared first on Discerning Hearts Catholic Podcasts.