The journey within

On this feast day of the great St Augustine, I am struck by the excerpt from his writing in today’s Office of Readings, because it makes me think of our St Teresa’s Interior Castle.  He writes: ‘Urged to reflect upon myself, I entered under your guidance the innermost places of my being; but only because you had become my helper was I able to do so. I entered, then, and with the vision of my spirit, such as it was, I saw the incommutable light far above my spiritual ken and transcending my mind: not this common light which every carnal eye can see, nor any light of the same order; but greater, as though this common light were shining much more powerfully, far more brightly, and so extensively as to fill the universe. The light I saw was not the common light at all, but something different, utterly different, from all those things.’  One of the most exciting lessons we learn in Carmel and specifically in The Interior Castle, is that the journey into ourselves is a journey towards God, because He lives in the very depths of our being.  This means that the journey into myself will be challenging and perhaps even frightening, because the closer I draw to God, the more He will be shining his light on those depths, not just encouraging me thereby but also lighting up dark places I wasn’t aware of before, dark places that part of me really doesn’t want to know about.  However, it is always better to live in the Truth as much as we can, rather than in unreality.

Intercessions:

Cancer: Brian Davis, Marie, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Jacqui, Sue B, Theresa K, Fr Jon

Siena, Elara – sick children

Wojtek – massive heart attack leaving him incapacitated

David OCDS – housebound; Martin Gilham – unable to attend community meetings

Sophia – blind infant

Joy Smith OCDS – seriously ill

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)