Your kingdom come
From a the book “Way to Perfection” by Saint Teresa of Avila, virgin (1515-1582)
Your kingdom come
When asking a favor of some person of importance would anyone be so ill-mannered and thoughtless as not first to consider how best to address him in order to make a good impression and give him no cause for offense? Surely he would think over his petition carefully and his reason for making it, especially if it were for something specific and important as our good Jesus tells us our petitions should be. It seems to me that this point deserves serious attention. My Lord, could you not have included all in one word by saying “Father, give us whatever is good for us?” After all, to one who understands everything so perfectly, what need is there to say more?
Eternal Wisdom, between you and your Father that was enough; that was how you prayed in the garden. You expressed your desire and fear but surrendered yourself to his will. But as for us, my Lord, you know that we are less submissive to the will of your Father and need to mention each thing separately in order to stop and think whether it would be good for us, and otherwise not ask for it. You see, the gift our Lord intends for us may be by far the best, but if it is not what we wanted we are quite capable of flinging it back in his face. That is the kind of people we are; ready cash is the only wealth we understand.
Therefore, the good Jesus bids us repeat these words, this prayer for his kingdom to come in us: Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. See how wise our Master is! But what do we mean when we pray for this kingdom? That is what I am going to consider now, for it is important that we should understand it. Our good Jesus placed these two petitions side by side because he realized that in our inadequacy we could never fittingly hallow, praise, exalt or glorify this holy name of the eternal Father unless he enabled us to do so by giving us his kingdom here on earth. But since we must know what we are asking for and how important it is to pray for it without ceasing and to do everything in our power to please him who is to give it to us, I should now like to give you my own thoughts on the matter.
Of the many joys that are found in the kingdom of heaven, the greatest seems to me to be the sense of tranquility and well-being that we shall experience when we are free from all concern for earthly things. Glad because others are glad and for ever at peace, we shall have the deep satisfaction of seeing that by all creatures the Lord is honored and praised, and his name blessed. No one ever offends him, for there everyone loves him. Loving him is the soul’s one concern. Indeed it cannot help but love him, for it knows him. Here below our love must necessarily fall short of that perfection and constancy, but even so how different it would be, how much more like that of heaven, if we really knew our Lord!
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
Saint Teresa (1515-1582) was born at Avila, Castile, Spain on March 28, 1515. She was educated by Augustinian nuns but was forced to leave their convent at Avila in 1532 because of ill health. Long attracted to the religious life, she became a Carmelite nun at Avila in 1536 at age 21 . Sheexperienced mystical visions and ecstasies in 1555-1556 which caused her great anguish until her spiritual advisor, St. Peter of Alcantara, assured her that they were authentic. She founded St. Joseph Convent at Avila in 1562 for nuns who wished to live in a cloistered spiritual environment rather than the relaxed style so prevalent in convents of her time. She was given permission to establish other convents based upon the strict rule she followed at St. Joseph’s and she founded sixteen other convents.
While establishing her second convent at Medino del Campo in 1568, she met a young friar named John Yepes (St. John of the Cross) and with him founded her first monastery for men, turning their operation over to John. Teresa traveled all over Spain in her struggle to reform the Carmelite Order but ran into strong opposition from the calced Carmelites. In 1580, Pope Gregory XIII at the instigation of King Philip II, recognized the Discalced Reform as a separate province. Teresa wrote numerous letters and books considered classics of spiritual literature, among them her Autobiography (1565) The way of Perfection (1573), and Interior Castle (1577).
Teresa was one of the great mystics of all time and blended her highly active life with one of deep spiritual contemplation. She died at Alba de Tormes, Spain on October 4, 1582 at the age of 67. She was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622 and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Paul VI in 1970, the first woman to be so honored.
Music: “Sanctus” From the Mass “Missa Brevis” composed, conducted and produced by Sean McDermott with permission.