Lenten Online Retreat with St. Teresa of Avila - Introduction
Give for the Sake of Giving
Gospel: Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Jesus said to his disciples : « Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “
And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “
And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. »
Reflection
« Give for the sake of giving, don’t expect a reward; pray to God in secret, don’t look for a reward; love for the sake of loving, this is your reward!» This text, inspired by the Gospel for the beginning of Lent, with its invitation to discretion, can provide the «front page» for our Lenten season. Encouraged by the current atmosphere of monitoring and quest for effectiveness, we risk making our Lenten journey a calculated spiritual performance. In fact, if Lent is a time of conversion and therefore of spiritual, human, and moral improvement, it has to be experienced for God first and foremost because God is God. The rest will be provided to us «above and beyond». This can give us a lot of momentum and freedom to experience a «holy quarantine». «Quarantine» is a word that can have a negative connotation for many because it has been used quite often in our global health crisis, but here it can be a means to retreat from our heart, from our schedule, from some of our habits, for the Lord, to love Him and let Him act.
1. Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada was born in Spain on the 28th of March 1515 in a well-to-do family from Avila: she was the third of nine children. At the age of 20, despite her father’s disapproval, she entered the Carmel of the Incarnation. She discovered mental prayer but went through an inner struggle between the logic of the world and the call to give herself totally to God: this lasted for 20 years. It was at the age of 39 that she underwent a conversion while praying before a painting of the Passion of Christ: she experienced the love of Jesus deep within and her heart was overwhelmed by it. A new life began for Teresa, the life of God within her.
As a woman who was influenced by the tensions of her time (the division within the Church, the discovery of the Americas, the suspicion of the Inquisition...), Teresa scrutinized these signs of the times and sought to find ways to serve the Lord with greater love. Impelled by the Holy Spirit, she founded a new monastery in 1562, centered on a life of prayer at the service of the Church: the Discalced Carmelite nuns of Saint Joseph in Avila. At that time she took the name of Teresa of Jesus. It was the beginning of a great adventure as she founded sixteen other monasteries throughout Spain and initiated a branch for men living in the same spirit, with the help of John of the Cross. Thus she gave birth to a new religious family, the Discalced Carmelites. During those twenty years, Teresa led an intense and trying life revolving around her foundations: travel, negotiations, opposition, correspondence... She gave herself totally to the Lord’s work until the very end and left this life in Alba de Tormes on the 4th of October 1582.
In her writings, The Book of Her Life, The Way of Perfection, The Interior Castle, The Book of Her Foundations, etc., «La Madre» reveals to us her spiritual experience through prayer, which she presents as friendship with Jesus. This adventurer in God opens up new territories of divine interiority and intimacy to help us to place Jesus Christ at the center of our lives. Her human, literary, and spiritual influence is considerable. Teresa was canonized in 1622 and in 1970 she was the first woman to be named Doctor of the Church, with the title Mater Spiritualium or the “Mother of Spirituality” in the Catholic Church.
2. Six Gospels, One Castle with Seven Dwellings, and Three types of work for one Lent
This Lenten retreat 2021 will weave together three threads. The Sunday Gospels offer a rich and structured biblical journey: this year, which is year B of the lectionary, they are drawn from the Gospels of Saint Mark and Saint John.
Finally, Ash Wednesday’s Gospel recalls three traditional works of mercy: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. The point of the gospel is to invite people to give freely by «giving for the sake of giving,» praying for the sake of praying, and fasting for the Lord. But these areas are essential to a Christian life because they touch on three essential relationships: with one’s neighbor (almsgiving), with God (prayer), and with oneself (fasting). Love of neighbor, the discovery of the face of God, and personal effort can be courses of action for this Lenten season without falling into the aforementioned shortcomings in ‘performance expectations’. At each stage of the retreat, at the end of the meditation, we will review these three areas, which we always will come back to, more or less. These are types of “work” but they also are a contemplation of God’s work, as well as points of conversion.
Therefore, our meditations will consist of three parts corresponding to the three threads presented. And for each day, a quotation chosen by our Discalced Carmelite nuns from SaintMaur will accompany us on this journey.
3. Taxi down the runway of the retreat
Ash Wednesday and the days after Ash Wednesday, which lead us to the first Sunday of Lent— the first real stage of our journey—are like a runway or a taxiway (to borrow from airport terminology): it’s like when the plane taxis on the ground from the terminal gate to the runway. These days draw our attention to various features provided during Lent: free gift (Wednesday), prayer (Thursday), fasting (Friday), charity (Saturday). Have a good start to Lent and we’ll see you soon for the first leg of our journey !
The retreat program
During the weeks of Lent, Saint Teresa will lead us from dwelling place to dwelling place in order to prepare us for the great Easter vigil, to enter the most interior dwelling place :
• 1st Week: In the midst of beasts and angels
• 2nd Week: Listen to him
• 3rd Week: Spring cleaning
• 4th Week: Contemplate the mystery of the Cross
• 5th Week: Enter into the mystery of the Cross
• Holy Week: Experience the mystery of the Cross
• Easter: ”He must rise from the dead”
Practical points
Each Friday of Lent you will receive an email with a downloadable document of 4–5 pages (in 2 formats, pdf and mobile). It provides
• a meditation on the Sunday gospel
• a presentation on one of the seven dwelling places of Saint Teresa’s Interior Castle
• brief, illustrated quotes to help you live each day with scripture and Teresa of Avila
Welcome to Lent!
Fr. Guillaume Dehorter (Avon convent)
PRAY EACH DAY OF THE WEEK
Thursday after Ash Wednesday 18 February:
« Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him. » Dt 30:19-20
« His Majesty couldn’t grant us a greater favor than to give us a life that would be an imitation of the life His beloved Son lived. » Interior Castle VII, ch. 4, no. 4
I joyfully decide to make time for a more personal moment of encounter with Christ every day this Lent.
Friday after Ash Wednesday 19 February
« Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice… Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin ? » Is 58:6-7
« Works are what the Lord wants! He desires that if you see a Sister who is sick to whom you can bring some relief, you have compassion on her and not worry about losing this devotion; and that if she is suffering pain, you also feel it; and that, if necessary, you fast so that she might eat…This is true union with His will » Interior Castle V, ch. 3, no. 11.
Lord open my eyes, open my hands, open my heart to your voice calling me throughout this day and give me the strength to answer your call.
Saturday after Ash Wednesday 20 February
« If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. » Is 58:10
« May He who enlightened me… be blessed forever and ever. And He enlightens me thus in anything I manage to do well. » Foundations ch. 29, no. 24.
Lord, may your Word enlighten my path and the paths of all those who work for an increase of justice and peace in the world.
