Vessel & Altar

"He chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him." - Ephesians 1:4

Paul opens with something extraordinary, Sister: you were chosen before the world existed, before there was anything to prove or earn. Today is the memorial of Teresa of Ávila, a Doctor of the Church who wrote with real honesty about how often prayer felt like struggle rather than sweetness, for years, before anything about it became easier.

You are being filled so that something can be set on the table.

If your own faith has felt dry lately, buried under everyone else's needs and your own exhaustion, that's not evidence you're failing at something other women have figured out. Teresa, a woman the Church now calls a teacher of prayer for the whole Church, felt exactly that for a long time and kept going anyway.

Jesus's Gospel warns against building monuments to prophets already dead while missing what God is actually doing right now. It's easier to admire someone else's finished faith, Teresa's included, than to tend your own unfinished one honestly today.

Teresa herself would probably tell you not to wait for the dryness to pass before showing up. She showed up dry for years and let the showing up itself be the prayer, long before it ever felt like anything more than that.

Give yourself ten real minutes of prayer today, even if it feels dry or distracted. Don't quit because it isn't sweet. Teresa didn't either. Protect the ten minutes the way you'd protect any other appointment on your calendar.

Lord, you chose me before I did anything to earn it. Let that be true even on the dry, distracted days. Amen.