The Desert

Some days we wake up and it's as if everything has changed. The momentum has shifted from zeal for our Beloved to a strange malaise and a sense of loneliness. St. Teresa of Avila saw this as a good thing. She saw this as Father growing us up, maturing our faith, helping us with detacthment from feelings, and as a time of strengthening the will in obedience and trust.  In times like this we may realize that it is the good feelings of His closeness we crave and not He Himself. We want the good feelings of grace and favor and not so much the Giver of grace and favor. This is a struggle in my life. I am a very emotional person, I have a weakness for the feelings of grace working in my many weaknesses. St. Peter talks about this in one of his epistles, "Count it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials...". I am glad he used the word "various". I would place spiritual dryness in the realm of "various". But sometimes we experience this feeling of separation from our Lord because of sin, that is completely different than the "various" trials Peter spoke of!  When it is because of sin that we sense separation, we should confess our sin! (I am so grateful for the Sacrament of Reconciliation.) 

Jesus endured His desert for 40 days and nights. Scripture says that even our Lord learned obedience through what He suffered. Surely we are not better than He! Teresa says that after a time, the Lord once again gives us His gifts of presence, just as after a time the angels came and ministered to Jesus in His desert. The goal of the desert is to teach us to trust our Father, and to learn to will the zeal for our Beloved Lord whether we feel it or not. To continue in prayer, fasting, devotions, and works of love for Jesus and those around us, in spite of what we feel, to embrace our cross. And when we fail, He is there to lift us up. Everything is grace.  Lord, have mercy on us.

 

wkm