(Ephesians 1:1-10; Luke 11:47-54)
+As we heard in the reading at Vigils from Teresa of Avila this morning, “if Christ Jesus dwells in a person as his friend and noble leader, that one can endure all things, for Christ helps and strengthens us and never abandons us.
Unlike the scribes and Pharisees we heard about in our gospel, our life is centered on Christ who “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.. chose us in him, before the foundation of the world” as we just heard from St Paul to the Ephesians.
Such love asks only love in return and so much depends on keeping this always before our eyes as Teresa of Avila reminds us again and again in her writing as a Doctor of the Church. “If at some time the Lord should grant us, she tells us, the grace of impressing his love on our hearts, all will become easy for us and we shall accomplish great things quickly and without effort.” So let us ask for this grace for one another and for Christians everywhere