Gospel LK 11:37-41
After Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home. He entered and reclined at table to eat. The Pharisee was amazed to see that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal. The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees! Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish, inside you are filled with plunder and evil. You fools! Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside? But as to what is within, give alms, and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
REFLECTION
“Beauty is as beauty does.” That was one of my grandmother’s favorite quotes. She wrote this in my autograph book when I graduated high school. I loved and admired my grandmother, my mother’s mother. She was a beautiful person inside and outside. Gertrude was her name. She lived during the depression and raised her half-brother and sister like she was their mother. When my grandmother was a young woman she would go beg with the Daughters of Charity nuns to raise money for their orphanage.
Gertrude was prayerful, patient, proactive, and loving. She always helped others even when she had little to share.
Today is the Memorial of St. Teresa of Jesus or also known as St. Teresa of Avila. St. Teresa was a woman of action like my grandmother, Gertrude. When Teresa was a young woman she was interested in boys, flirting, and dressing fashionably. Her father was very strict and thought Teresa was too concerned with her outside appearances, therefore, he sent her to a convent. St. Teresa was also worried about her own sinfulness. While she was in the convent she was troubled by the nuns she lived with because they had parties with men, dressed up and wore jewelry. She decided that she was going to start a convent with nuns who would go back to traditional and more contemplative lives. “Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass. God does not change. Patience achieves everything.” Teresa withstood a lot of opposition from many within her community and the church. She was even investigated by the inquisition because of those who disagreed with her pursuit to reform her order. St. Teresa believed in prayer and patience. She helped others to learn how to contemplate and meditate in order to get closer to God. Teresa worked on cleaning and purifying her inner soul; and others could see her true beauty, her soul. My grandmother, Gertrude’s true beauty was inside like Teresa.
Pray that St. Teresa of Avila, who loved Jesus, was courageous, and contemplative, will intercede for Priests to have courage and to contemplate on what is of God and to stand up for the teachings of Jesus Christ and the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.
Let us Pray together the Prayer for Priests.
