Are
you content and at peace, therefore, living fully at any given moment in life?
Or is there something lacking in your life, therefore, feeling anxious and insecure?
St.
Irenaeus said, “Gloria enim Dei vivens
homo, vita autem hominis visio Dei”. Basically, the glory of God is a man
fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God. This was quoted by Pope
St. John Paul II in his address to general audience on April 5, 2000.
Basically, we live on this earth for the glory of God by seeking goodness in each other. So, Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please all men in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved (1 Corinthians 10:31-33).
And Peter wrote:
Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:8-11).
Now we can understand that to live a Christian life of contentment and peace, living a life given by God fully, means to love one another (1 Peter 4:8), as commanded by Christ (John 13:34-35) so that we seek the good in each other (1 Corinthians 10:24, 33), serving one another with the strengths supplied by God (1 Peter 4:11).
To
live a life fully for the glory of God, leading a life of continent and peace,
not letting fear and anxiety, jealousy and envy, bother, we must stay in touch
with – better yet, we must be securely attached to the source of our strengths:
God.
And
this is testified and verified with the life of St. Teresa of Avila (Santa
Teresa de Avila), whose memorial feast is celebrated on October 15.
St. Teresa of Avila (Santa Teresa de Avila) was a fervent seeker and reformer within the Church in the 16th century Spain, contemporary to St. John of the Cross and St. Ignatius of Loyola. She is also one of a Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis as Doctor Orationis. In fact, she is recognized as the first female doctor of the Church for her excellence of prayer.
Through this well-known poetic form of Teresa’s prayer, “Nada te Turbe” (Nothing to Disturb), we can understand and reflect how we can live a life fully for the glory of God, being free from disturbance, even facing challenges.
Nada te turbe,
Nada te espante,
Todo se pasa,
Dios no se muda,
La paciencia
Todo lo alcanza;
Quien a Dios tiene
Nada le falta:
Sólo Dios basta.
Eleva el pensamiento,
al cielo sube,
por nada te acongojes,
Nada te turbe.
A Jesucristo sigue
con pecho grande,
y, venga lo que venga,
Nada te espante.
¿Ves la gloria del mundo?
Es gloria vana;
nada tiene de estable,
Todo se pasa.
Aspira a lo celeste,
que siempre dura;
fiel y rico en promesas,
Dios no se muda.
Ámala cual merece
Bondad inmensa;
pero no hay amor fino
Sin la paciencia.
Confianza y fe viva
mantenga el alma,
que quien cree y espera
Todo lo alcanza.
Del infierno acosado
aunque se viere,
burlará sus furores
Quien a Dios tiene.
Vénganle desamparos,
cruces, desgracias;
siendo Dios su tesoro,
Nada le falta.
Id, pues, bienes del mundo;
id, dichas vanas,
aunque todo lo pierda,
Sólo Dios basta.
Santa Teresa de Avila, “Nada te Turbe”
The first stanza is often sung. So, you may be familiar with this:
Nada te turbe,
Nada te espante,
Todo se pasa,
Dios no se muda,
Nothing disturbs, nothing frightens, even though everything passes, because God does not change. God does not change and pass, because, as St. Thomas Aquinas argued in Summa Thelogiae (I-Q9), God is immutable.
In order not let worldly things – earthly things – which are in impermanence, disturb us, we need to hang on to – to seek refuge in the immutable and constant being, and God is the one.
La paciencia
Todo lo alcanza;
Quien a Dios tiene
Nada le falta:
Sólo Dios basta.
But, we need to be patient in order to find our refuge in God. With patience, we can reach anything. So, those who are with God lacks nothing. God alone is enough. In fact the second stanza, especially in regard to “Quien a Dios tiene, nada le falta: Solo Dios basta”, makes a good reflection of David’s Psalm of seeking refuge in God, who is also his Shepherd, Psalm 23. By letting Yahweh be his shepherd to guide, he has nothing lacking and nothing to fear. So, he seeks his dwelling in God, who is rich in mercy.
Eleva el pensamiento,
al cielo sube,
por nada te acongojes,
Nada te turbe
So, we raise our thoughts to heaven, where God resides, letting nothing inflict and cause us to suffer. Yes, God alone is enough.
A Jesucristo sigue
con pecho grande,
y, venga lo que venga,
Nada te espante.
To Jesus, we follow, with our open chest held high, to embrace him. And whatever may come cannot frightens us. It is a sign of our confidence in God, whom we seek.
¿Ves la gloria del mundo?
Es gloria vana;
nada tiene de estable,
Todo se pasa.
Do you see glory in the world? It is a vain glory, as it has no stability. It will pass.
Aspira a lo celeste,
que siempre dura;
fiel y rico en promesas,
Dios no se muda.
Aspire to heaven as it always remains stable. Faithful and rich in promises, God does not change, as He is immutable.
Ámala cual merece
Bondad inmensa;
pero no hay amor fino
Sin la paciencia.
Love as deserve, immense in goodness; but no fine love without patience.
Teresa
is reflecting the fine love with patience in light of 1 Corinthians 1:4-8.
Confianza y fe viva
mantenga el alma,
que quien cree y espera
Todo lo alcanza.
Trust and living faith maintain the soul. Whoever believe and hope can achieve everything.
Here, Teresa reflects on hope in connection to living faith. So, we trust in God, who is God of hope, as we may overflow with hope and joy by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).
Del infierno acosado
aunque se viere,
burlará sus furores
Quien a Dios tiene.
Even harassed from hell, even seeing it, one who is with God cannot be caught in it but will laugh hard at it. Here, we see Teresa’s sense of humor, stemming from her faith in God.
Vénganle desamparos,
cruces, desgracias;
siendo Dios su tesoro,
Nada le falta.
One may feel deserted, crosses and disgraces, s/he lacks nothing as God is his/her treasure.
Id, pues, bienes del mundo;
id, dichas vanas,
aunque todo lo pierda,
Sólo Dios basta.
Let go, then, worldly goodness and false teachings. Though everything may be lost, God alone is enough.
The last stanza is something that the law-abiding rich man, who was saddened when Jesus asked him to sell all of his possessions for the poor in order to inherit eternal life (Mark 10:17-22), should have taken to his heart. It is not even the law per se to save (e.g. Romans 3:20) – unless we are in Christ. So, Paul has written:
Hence,
now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of
the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and
death (Romans 8:1-2). In order to find
true freedom, true contentment, true peace, and true security, in Christ, who
is God the Son, we may need to let go of every worldly things (id, pues, bienes del mundo). Not to
mention, we need to let go of heresies (id,
dichas vanas), because “Solo Dios
basta”.
Letting go of every worldly thing for contentment and peace, free from disturbance….this prayer message of St. Theresa of Avila is echoed in this prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola, found in his Spiritual Exercises (Los ejercicios espirituales de San Ignacio de Loyola, 234.
Suscipe, Domine, universam meam libertatem. Accipe memoriam, intellectum, atque voluntatem omnem. Quidquid habeo vel possideo mihi largitus es; id Tibi totum restituo, ac Tuae prorsus voluntati trado gubernandum. Amorem Tui solum cum gratia Tua mihi dones, et dives sum satis, nec aliud quidquam ultra posco.
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, All I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it. Everything is yours; do with it what you will. Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.
Amorem Tui solum cum gratia Tua mihi dones, et dives sum satis, nec aliud quidquam ultra posco. Only love and grace of God. Nothing else. Grace and love of God make us rich. So, why do we need all other things?
Teresa must have experienced uncontainable groaning deep within, perhaps hitting her like a labor pain. Her heart aches for Christ. So, led by the Holy Spirit, she embarked on her pilgrimage journey out of her groaning of heart, seeking Christ to be united. This is reflected in the First Reading (Romans 8:22-27). Out of her groaning in yearning for God, Teresa embarked on her spiritual pilgrimage journey to seek Christ. And this journey is reflected in her work, “El Castillo Interior”(The Interior Castle). This journey, punctuated with the seven mansions, is to be united with Christ, while purifying herself in moving toward him. In a way, she represents the Church to be the bride of Christ (Revelation 19:6-9; 22:17).
In the seventh mansion, Teresa finds herself in the mystical union with Christ, spiritual marriage. And in this union, St. Teresa of Avila finds herself in Christ, truly feeling, “Nada te turbe, por que, estoy en Dios el Cristo, en union con mi Rey. Solo Dios basta” (Nothing to disturb, because I am in God the Christ, in union with my King. God alone is enough.
The Gospel Reading (John 15:1-8) reflects Teresa’s state of being in the seventh mansion on her journey in the Interior Castle, where she found and united herself with Christ, at the seventh mansion in her journey of El Castillo Interior (The Interior Castle).
Perhaps, Jesus was speaking to Teresa as she found him in the seventh mansion, to be in union with him – to be in him, these words spoken in the Gospel Reading.
Jesus
the Christ is the true vine, and the Father is the vine grower (John 15:1).
As Teresa has listened to the Word of God through Christ, she was pruned – purified – in order to bear abundant fruit of the Holy Spirit. And this is how the Father prunes His beloved vine branches, through the works of His Son. (i.e. John 15:2-3).
Now, Jesus says to Teresa:
Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are my beloved vine branch. You remain in me and I in you will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing (i.e. John 15:4-5).
Those
who cling to worldly things, like money, and listen to heretical teachings,
rather than seeking Christ and his Kingdom and the Word of God, are like
branches cut off and thrown into fire. Those branches fell out of the vines are
affected by satan (σατανᾶς /satanas; שָׂטָן
/satan), which has a connotation to “adversity” or “affliction”. As devil (διάβολος
/diabolos), satan slanders to cut us off from God. In order for us not to
be cut off by the slander of satan, Christ calls Teresa to remain in him (John
15:4). Again, he calls her to remain in him, for the Word of God to remain in
her so that she can live fully for the glory of God:
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples (John 15:7-8).
The Word of God is a seed to grow in secure heart grafted in God for abundant fruition. And this is how we live a life fully for the glory of God. This is a life free from disturbance. But, for us to attain such a life of contentment and peace, we must let go of everything – every worldly thing to which we may be tempted to attach ourselves to. The only being for us to attach ourselves is God – God alone. And this is how St. Teresa of Avila lived her life, finding Christ, finding herself securely attached to him, as she remained in him, and the Word of God is in her, growing into abundant fruition, for the glory of God.
Como dijo Santa Teresa de Avila en su oracion poetica, si, solo Dios basta y nada tu turbe.
St. Teresa of Avila lived her life fully as she found Christ and found herself in him in the seventh mansion upon her journey through El Castillo Interior (The Interior Castle).
Psychologically, she attained the state of “nada te turbe” because of her secure attachment to Christ. As John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth argued that those who established secure attachment with mothers or whoever their primary caregivers during infancy are more likely to enjoy “nada te turbe” kind of life (Bretherton, 1992)*, it is certainly so in finding secure attachment with God, as in the case of St. Teresa of Avila. As Beck (2006)** sees the applicability of the attachment theory of Bowlby and Ainsworth to the paradigm of attachment to God, it makes sense to see research evidence to show content life associated with secure attachment with God among Christians (Miner et al,, 2014)***.
*
Bretherton,
I. (1992). The Origins of Attachment Theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth,
Developmental Psychology, 28, 759-775
**
Beck,
R. (2006). God as a Secure Base: Attachment to God and Theological Exploration,
Journal of Psychology and Theology, 34(2), 125-132
***
Miner,
M., Dowson, M., and Malone, K. (2014). Attachment to God, Psychological Need
Satisfaction, and Psychological Well-Being Among Christians, Journal of
Psychology and Theology, 42(4), 326–342
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