DAY THIRTY
This is the wonderful culminating wisdom from St Teresa. She tells us that, because the nature of God is charity and love, we can love ourselves in Him, and love all our neighbors for his sake. We should never fool ourselves into thinking that we can hear Gods voice without listening intently to the voices of our neighbors. God is the sole treasure who emanates perfect love for us and all his creatures. There is only one true glory and that is God. When we dwell with God, nothing can disturb us whatever the clamor, trials and burdens of life, for God is the infinite calm, the peace beyond all peace, that helps us endure now and through eternity. Bharti
PRAYER: My God,
you who are charity and love itself.
Help me to love myself in you,
for you and by you,
and my neighbor for your sake.
May I possess you as my sole treasure
and my one glory,
far dearer than all creatures.
Grant that I may rejoice
in your perfect love for me,
and in the eternal love borne for you
by all the angels and saints
who see you face to face.
If I do this,
as you have promised,
there will be many things
I will not care about at all.
Nothing will disturb me.
MANTRA: For me to live is Christ,
to die is gain.
EVENING PRAYER: O Lord,
in the silence of this night,
let me hear the voice of my neighbors,
so often drowned out
by the clamor of my own needs.
Let me not fool myself into thinking
that I can hear your voice
if I do not listen to theirs.
You speak to me in the voice of my neighbors.
I cannot claim to love you
if I do not love them
even as I love myself.
You have promised,
that there will be many things
we will not care about at all,
that nothing will disturb us.
For if we have you, God,
we will want for nothing,
You alone suffice.