The Path to Deeper Prayer – St. Teresa of Avila on Christ as Our True Friend | The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart Podcast
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St. Teresa of Avila on friendship with Christ, his sacred humanity, and why growing deeper in prayer always brings us closer to Jesus About This Episode What does it mean to grow deeper in prayer? St. Teresa of Avila gives us a simple answer: stay close to Jesus and learn to know him as a true friend. In this episode of The Spiritual Journey for the Discerning Heart, Kris McGregor reflects on St. Teresa’s teaching that even at the heights of contemplation, Christ remains the way. Prayer does not lead us beyond Jesus. It draws us into a deeper relationship with him. St. Teresa speaks especially about the sacred humanity of Christ. Jesus is truly God and truly man, and his human life remains essential to our prayer. We come to know him by returning to the Gospel, watching how he receives people, how he prays, how he suffers, how he loves, and how he entrusts himself to the Father. For St. Teresa, this is not simply a matter of studying the example of Jesus. It is friendship. Christ is the one who strengthens us, teaches us, accompanies us when we are troubled, and never abandons us. She also reminds us that prayer should be lived in freedom. We do not have to manufacture spiritual experiences or compare our prayer with someone else’s. We place ourselves in God’s hands and allow him to lead. At the heart of the reading is one of St. Teresa’s simplest and most beautiful insights: “love calls for love in return.” As we remember the love Christ has shown us and recognize his faithfulness in our own lives, prayer becomes our response to the love we have already received. For anyone searching for a deeper spiritual life, St. Teresa points us toward a path that remains both simple and demanding: behold the life of Jesus, remember his love, keep him near, and allow friendship with Christ to deepen. Discerning Hearts Reflection Question * When you think about growing deeper in prayer, what are you hoping to find? How does St. Teresa’s emphasis on friendship with Christ change the way you understand that desire? * St. Teresa tells us to remain close to the sacred humanity of Christ. Is there a particular moment in the life of Jesus that helps you know him more personally or trust him more deeply? * St. Teresa says that a person should “walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands.” Where might anxiety, comparison, or the desire to make something happen be affecting your prayer? * St. Teresa writes that “love calls for love in return.” How has remembering the love and faithfulness of Christ helped you respond to him more freely? From The Office of Readings on the feast of St. Teresa of Avila If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend. And I clearly see that if we expect to please him and receive an abundance of his graces, God desires that these graces must come to us from the hands of Christ, through his most sacred humanity, in which God takes delight. Many, many times I have perceived this through experience. The Lord has told it to me. I have definitely seen that we must enter by this gate if we wish his Sovereign Majesty to reveal to us great and hidden mysteries. A person should desire no other path, even if he is at the summit of contemplation; on this road he walks safely. All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example. What more do we desire from such a good friend at our side? Unlike our friends in the world, he will never abandon us when we are troubled or distressed. Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near. Let us consider the glorious Saint Paul: it seems that no other name fell from his lips than that of Jesus, because the name of Jesus was fixed and embedded in his heart. Once I had come to understand this truth, I carefully considered the lives of some of the saints, the great contemplatives, and found that they took no other path: Francis, Anthony of Padua, Bernard, Catherine of Siena. A person must walk along this path in freedom, placing himself in God’s hands. If God should desire to raise us to the position of one who is an intimate and shares his secrets, we ought to accept this gladly. Whenever we think of Christ we should recall the love that led him to bestow on us so many graces and favours, and also the great love God showed in giving us in Christ a pledge of his love; for love calls for love in return. Let us strive to keep this always before our eyes and to rouse ourselves to love him. For if at some time the Lord should grant us the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort. Excerpts from the English translation of The Liturgy of the Hours (Four Volumes), © 1974, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved. Scripture for Reflection Philippians 4:13, RSV-CE “I can do all things in him who strengthens me.” John 15:15, RSV-CE “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” John 14:6, RSV-CE “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.’” 1 John 4:19, RSV-CE “We love, because he first loved us.” St. Teresa of Avila “If Christ Jesus dwells in a man as his friend and noble leader, that man can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us. He is a true friend.” “A person should desire no other path, even if he is at the summit of contemplation; on this road he walks safely.” “All blessings come to us through our Lord. He will teach us, for in beholding his life we find that he is the best example.” “Blessed is the one who truly loves him and always keeps him near.” “For love calls for love in return.” Continue the Journey with Discerning Hearts ➜ Explore Discerning Hearts ➜ Discerning Hearts Series Programming ➜ The Spiritual Journey with Kris McGregor Continue Exploring ➜ St. Teresa of Avila – Mystic and Doctor of the Church Explore Discerning Hearts resources on St. Teresa’s life, writings, prayer, and spiritual teaching. ➜ The Interior Castle with Dr. Anthony Lilles Journey through St. Teresa’s teaching on the interior life, prayer, and the soul’s growth in union with God. ➜ The Interior Castle – Complete Audiobook by St. Teresa of Avila Listen to the complete spiritual classic read by Kris McGregor. ➜ Carmelite Spirituality and Prayer – Discerning Hearts Explore St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, and the wider Carmelite tradition of prayer and contemplation.