The Catechetical Review - Communicating Christ for a New Evangelization

Immediate Joys or Lasting Joy? St. Teresa of Avila's Quest for Happiness, Pt 2

Authored by Fr. Jean-François Lefebvre in Issue #1.2 of Catechetical Review
In this year dedicated by Pope Francis to the consecrated life, Saint Teresa of Avila is a vivid icon of the joy given by the “sequela Christi.” She followed the steps of Christ, his way of life, through obedience, poverty, and chastity. Teresa was a joyful woman, full of the light of her Lord. She was gifted for relationship and many people were fond of her company, but these very gifts could become traps in her search for happiness. Thus her way to reach true joy—that is to say, joy that remains in the depths of the heart even when experiencing hardships—was not a straight one. Following her story may be illuminating for us.

The rest of this online article is available for current subscribers.

Start your subscription today!


This article is from The Catechetical Review (Online Edition ISSN 2379-6324) and may be copied for catechetical purposes only. It may not be reprinted in another published work without the permission of The Catechetical Review by contacting editor@catechetics.com

Articles from the Most Recent Issue

Editor's Reflections: “Freedom For” and “Freedom From”
By Dr. James Pauley
Free What is freedom? Here in America, we sing that ours is “the land of the free.” But, of course, building a free society requires that we put laws in place that actually limit some freedoms. We recognize that these limitations are for the good of our common community. It’s clear in our day-to-day living that human freedom, the ideal for which we... Read more
Evangelization and Personal Freedom
By James Franke
If someone is married, in love, or has ever been in love, they can likely tell you when they knew they were in love and, more importantly, when they knew their significant other was in love with them. It’s also likely that one of the individuals fell in love first. Their heart had been moved and they had “arrived” to love. After having arrived,... Read more
Freedom and Conscience 
By Fr. Jay Mello
Free Jiminy Cricket was no theologian or philosopher, but in the Disney Classic Pinocchio, the talking cricket was assigned to serve as the “conscience” for the puppet who was made a “real boy.” The innocent puppet that is familiar to all of us was instructed to follow his conscience in the pursuit of being a good boy. Unaware of what a conscience is... Read more

Pages

Watch Tutorial Videos

We've put together several quick and easy tutorial videos to show you how to use this website.

Watch Now