Integrity matters!

THE WORD AND THE SAINT

October 15, 2024 - Remembering St. Teresa of Avila

Galatians 5:1-6; Luke 11: 37-41

Integrity is one virtue that Jesus never compromised on. Dichotomìes and discrepancies between words and actions, between belief and life: they were immediate disqualifiers according to Jesus, in the pursuit of eternal life... such persons had no place in the Reign of God, in Jesus' purview. 

What matters is, goes on to explain Paul in the first reading, the faith that makes its power felt through love; that is a faith that is translated into life. An integrity of what I believe and what I live. The perfect harmony between my so-called religiosity and my daily criteria of choices - that is in short, integrity. 

Even a simple life-practice backed up by a strong conviction can become an entry pass to the Reign. Be it the 2 pennies dropped by the widow, or the vial of perfume broken by the 'sinner' woman, or the simple prayer made by the thief on the cross beside Jesus... they were reasons enough for them to inherit the Reign of God.

The saint we remember today - St. Teresa of Avila - was not the best of persons, according to what we learn about her early life. But we find she was totally recognizant of that - she considered herself so unworthy, that God chose to strengthen her and use her powerfully, towards a reformation of the Religious Order she would belong to and the entire religious life in the 16th centrury. She who was so reluctant about spiritual matters, transformed into a Spiritual Master, a doctor of the Church - simply because there was no hypocrisy in her. Her integrity was all that mattered to the Lord.

Let us believe in what we pray and practise what we preach or hear preached... lest we become "fools"in the eyes of the Lord. In the presence of the Lord, integrity matters!