Teresa of Ávila: Weighty and Important

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Give us today our daily bread. Matthew 6:11

“The good Jesus understands, as I have said, how difficult a thing He is offering on our behalf, for He knows our weakness, and how often we show that we do not understand what the will of the Lord is, since we are weak while He is so merciful. He knows that some means must be found by which we shall not omit to give what He has given on our behalf, for if we did that it would be anything but good for us, since everything we gain comes from what we give.

Yet He knows that it will be difficult for us to carry this out; for if anyone were to tell some wealthy, pampered person that it is God’s will for him to moderate his eating so that others, who are dying of hunger, shall have at least bread to eat, he will discover a thousand reasons for not understanding this but interpreting it in his own way. If one tells a person who speaks ill of others that it is God’s will that he should love his neighbor as himself, he will lose patience and no amount of reasoning will convince him…

Seeing our need, therefore, the good Jesus has sought the admirable means whereby He has shown us the extreme love which He has for us, and in His own name and in that of His brethren He has made this petition: “Give us, Lord, this day our daily bread.” For the love of God, sisters [and brothers], let us realize the meaning of our good Master’s petition, for our very life depends on our not disregarding it. Set very little store by what you have given, since there is so much that you will receive.

It seems to me, in the absence of a better opinion, that the good Jesus knew what He had given for us and how important it was for us to give this to God, and yet how difficult it would be for us to do so, as has been said, because of our natural inclination to base things and our want of love and courage. He saw that, before we could be aroused, we needed His aid, not once but every day, and it must have been for this reason that He resolved to remain with us. As this was so weighty and important a matter, He wished it to come from the hand of the Eternal Father.”

Teresa of Ávila in The Way of Perfection, translated & edited by E. Allison Peers (Image Books 1964) 96-97.

When I turned to the Lord’s prayer this week, I received a kind note from Barbara Shantz, a faithful Canadian fellow worker. She encouraged me to look at the Lord’s Prayer in the thinking of Teresa of Ávila.

In The Way of Perfection, Teresa reminds us that this is more than earthly provision. Daily we need this spiritual food to nourish our souls. Is your soul hungry or satisfied?

For example, if we want to be generous in sharing with our neighbor, we must feed on that which can empower us and enrich us and arouse us to faithfulness.

We get this “weighty and important” provision from the hand of the Father. The Holy Spirit stirs us to seek it, and we are not alone in this journey, for our Lord Jesus Christ is with us.

How are you seeking after spiritual food daily to nurture your life of generosity? What disciplines are you adopting to feed from the hand of the Eternal Father?