What Teresa Might Teach Us Today
Nov 15, 2023 12:24:53 GMT
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Maolsheachlann and Tomas like this
Post by Séamus on Nov 15, 2023 12:24:53 GMT
"What use is it to me for the saints of the past to have been what they were, if I come along after them and behave so badly that I leave the building in ruins because of my bad habits? For obviously those who come later don't remember those who have died years before as clearly as they do the people they see around them. A fine state of affairs it is if I insist that I am not one of the first, and do not realize what a difference there is between my life and virtues, and the lives of those God has endowed with such graces!Any of you who sees your Order falling away in any respect, must try to be the kind of stone the building can be rebuilt with;the Lord will help to rebuild it.
For love of our Lord I beg them to remember how quickly everything comes to an end, and what a favor our Lord has done us in bringing us to this Order, and what a punishment anyone who starts any kind of relaxation will deserve."
I found that piece from Teresa of Avila quite strong. The excerpt from Interior Castle is used in the Carmelite breviary for All Carmelite Saints (last Tuesday 14/11) but could be applied to a lot of things and situations today;of course the once might role of religious congregations, even in countries like Australia, which can never really have been labelled as Catholic societies, primarily comes to mind. But not only this.
I read an article this week about the abuse of boys in Kinora, in the North,the scandal including names like Iain Paisley and Lord Mountbatten. Noting this is not a matter of throwing stones in glass houses- the British-ness and Protestant-ness of the scandal makes it a striking photo-negative image of similar scandals South of the border.
It's impossible to accurately speculate the 'what-ifs' of today's Catholicism, but seeing global brands such as Hugo Boss,Fanta, Swarovski Crystal or VW flourish despite support of the greatest (or equal at least, as comparisons of evils can be impossible) scandal of the twentieth century and
considering that institutions, such as religious orders,had de-sacred-ized themselves well before any forms of abuse were discussed, there are certainly other- deep and less so- dynamics at play.
In an article about released asylum seekers in a newspaper today an incognito reporter included a line "one man criticized the (au)$600 given to him by a MercyCare advocate and was told in response it was more than enough money and that 'it could last a month' if he was able to source food"
The charity mentioned lives off the legacy of Catherine McAuley's Sisters of Mercy, a classic example of something created to be a sacred and cultural institute, now dissolving in a unrecognisable and humanistic,if often laudable,multifaceted society.
And there is extremely little the average person can do about these situations. Not the big stuff.
But St Teresa does make you feel that somehow, somewhere, we and what we do are indeed relevant.
For love of our Lord I beg them to remember how quickly everything comes to an end, and what a favor our Lord has done us in bringing us to this Order, and what a punishment anyone who starts any kind of relaxation will deserve."
I found that piece from Teresa of Avila quite strong. The excerpt from Interior Castle is used in the Carmelite breviary for All Carmelite Saints (last Tuesday 14/11) but could be applied to a lot of things and situations today;of course the once might role of religious congregations, even in countries like Australia, which can never really have been labelled as Catholic societies, primarily comes to mind. But not only this.
I read an article this week about the abuse of boys in Kinora, in the North,the scandal including names like Iain Paisley and Lord Mountbatten. Noting this is not a matter of throwing stones in glass houses- the British-ness and Protestant-ness of the scandal makes it a striking photo-negative image of similar scandals South of the border.
It's impossible to accurately speculate the 'what-ifs' of today's Catholicism, but seeing global brands such as Hugo Boss,Fanta, Swarovski Crystal or VW flourish despite support of the greatest (or equal at least, as comparisons of evils can be impossible) scandal of the twentieth century and
considering that institutions, such as religious orders,had de-sacred-ized themselves well before any forms of abuse were discussed, there are certainly other- deep and less so- dynamics at play.
In an article about released asylum seekers in a newspaper today an incognito reporter included a line "one man criticized the (au)$600 given to him by a MercyCare advocate and was told in response it was more than enough money and that 'it could last a month' if he was able to source food"
The charity mentioned lives off the legacy of Catherine McAuley's Sisters of Mercy, a classic example of something created to be a sacred and cultural institute, now dissolving in a unrecognisable and humanistic,if often laudable,multifaceted society.
And there is extremely little the average person can do about these situations. Not the big stuff.
But St Teresa does make you feel that somehow, somewhere, we and what we do are indeed relevant.