Skip to main content

Sermon for St Teresa of Avila

Sermon for St. Teresa of Avila
The Rev. Conor M Alexander
Christ and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church
Matthew 5:13-16
October 15, 2009


I’m always amazed at how much history repeats itself. I feel like the times we are living in today are wrought with a lot of the same problems that existed during the last reformation in the 15th and 16th centuries. When I see Churches filing lawsuits against one another, I wonder if we value our power and authority more than we value charity and love. When I attempt to pray the Daily Office, I realize how far we’ve strayed from Archbishop Cranmer’s original vision of simply reading through the Bible once per year. And when I hear senior clerics preaching that it doesn’t matter what you believe, so long as you’re working for justice, I really have to wonder what happened to the faith that has made such a difference in my life.


St. Teresa faced a lot of these same issues in her time. When she first entered the convent at age 20, she realized how lax the monastic life had become. Where monks and nuns were meant to live lives of great discipline, being witnesses to the world, they had degenerated into worldly comforts, and were indistinguishable to the rest of the world. Teresa received permission and founded the reformed Carmelite Order, one that restored the disciples and refocused on the classic monastic virtues of poverty, chastity, and obedience. What a gift to the church and the world. Every time I meet a nun or a monk I’m struck at the peaceful way in which they live – and at the same time they betray no suffering because of them. Through their poverty they show us that material possessions are not what make us whole – and they don’t suffer. Through their chastity they show us that physical pleasures are not the be all and end all of existence – and they don’t suffer. Through their obedience, they show us that we don’t have to be masters of our lives, but true peace comes from submission to God – and still they don’t suffer. Oh how I wish we could live our lives a tenth of the way they do.


Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth. Whenever I salt my food I’m struck with how different it tastes. The natural flavors come out more and I tend to enjoy it more. In the same way monastics and saints like Teresa and Antony before her brought out the natural flavors of life. Their lives were full of joy and peace and compassion because they were willing to abandon the things of this world, and rely totally on God. In the same vein, all Christians rise to a life full of peace and joy and compassion by forsaking the fleeting things of this world and embracing values of faith, hope, and charity. This is how we are the salt of the world. But there is a warning here as well. If we lose our saltiness we are no longer good for anything – we are thrown out and trampled underfoot. We do a grave injustice to God when the world looks at us, and instead of seeing love, sees hatred and meanness and power grabbing. So friends, forsake these things and cling to what is good. Let St Teresa be your physician and learn from her example. Take up spiritual disciplines and live lives worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While the monastics give their witness through poverty, chastity and obedience, give yours through faith, hope, and charity. Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Advent Challenge - Luke Chapters 8 and 9

Weekends can be a busy thing around the holidays.  Ironically Advent invites us to slow down while the world around us is speeding up with decorating, parties, shopping, etc.  That's why a challenge like reading a chapter of Luke every day is important - it refocusses you. Chapter 8 starts out with a parable about a farmer sowing seeds.  Most of the seed ends up useless, while the seed that fell on good soil yielded a massive harvest.  When the disciples asked what the parable is about, Jesus described it in terms of the Word of God, often falling on hearts that are either unwilling or unready, and it doesn't take hold.  But for some, it lands on a heart that's willing and ready, and bears much fruit. This sets the stage for two miracles that come next - the calming of the sea and the healing of a demoniac.  Jesus and the disciples went out on a boat, and a big storm came upon them.  While everyone else was panicking, Jesus was fast asleep in the stern...
Post a Comment
Read more

Advent Challenge - Luke Chapters 1 and 2

It's been a long time since I published here - about 10 months.  My life has taken some twists and turns.  As I went along I reflected on last year's journey, and my plan to launch Parish Development Ministries.  When I look back at everything I intended to do, I do think I had a decent road map.  But I didn't do a lot of it.  As it turns out, my heart really is in parish ministry, and I'm really glad to be back in that role. Last summer I accepted a call to St. Mary's Church in Wayne, PA.  So we moved again, and I'm settling into this new and wonderful place.  Since it is a year of new things, I decided to launch an Advent Challenge for the new year.  Things worked out nicely.  There are 24 days of Advent this year, and it's Year C, when we'll be reading the Gospel of Luke.  Since Luke has 24 chapters, it just makes sense to read one chapter a day this month, and be prepared for Christmas. Luke is an interesting Gospel.  He has one...
Post a Comment
Read more

Advent Challenge - Luke Chapter 5

Luke was a genius when it came to structuring this Gospel.  Chapter 5 is framed on two sides by calling of disciples, with two miraculous healings in between them. The chapter starts with Jesus calling Peter, James, and John, and as part of the calling provides them with a huge catch of fish.  The payload was so big that several other boats were brought in, yet they all started to sink because they were so full.  When Peter expressed his unworthiness, Jesus simply told him to follow, and Jesus would make him fish for people. This miracle foreshadowed the role Peter would play in the early Church.  On the first day of Pentecost in Acts, Peter's preaching converts several thousand souls in one day, and tradition holds that they returned home and began their own local Churches in their communities.  But the question remains, what are all of these conversions for? The next two sections in Luke 5 gives us a clue as to the answer.  First Jesus heals a leper, and ...
Post a Comment
Read more