Social Dimension of Self-Knowledge Our self-knowledge is deeply influenced by social factors. We have inherited a deeply rooted alienation that is the product of original sin. This disruptive force is nurtured by social, economic and cultural factors. These influences play a big part in creating a false consciousness for all of us. This, in turn, creates a worldview where we are strongly inclined to see things for our own benefit. We seldom look on the world free form the pull of our self-interest. From these most fundamental desires flow the division, the isolation, the conflict and ha...

Matthew 18:15-21 Dear Friends, Today’s message of forgiveness and reconciliation is part of a special section (Mt 18:1-35) on the church as a community. The membership of the Christian community is made up of flawed human beings. There is a great need to heal the ever-present differences and conflicts that arise. Jesus presents a program of deep insight and wisdom.When the conflict happens, Jesus asks us to approach it with humility and a heart open to radical forgiveness. Recall the advice from the Sermon on the Mount (Mt.5-7). There are all kinds of teachings abou...

Teresa’s Constant Plea: Self-knowledge and HumilityTeresa opens The Interior Castle with a description of the beauty and wonder of the human person. The basis of this great marvel is the presence of God. The human person is not only made in the image of God. This loving God is present at the d...

Matthew 16: 21-27 Dear Friends, In the beginning of the Gospel of John we have the heart of God’s plan of salvation. The world-shattering proclamation, “The Word became flesh.” (Jn 1:14) is God’s plan. This is how Jesus accepted the call to save the world. Becoming flesh was not an isolated event. It is in accepting the totality of His humanity that we were to be saved. This meant Jesus accepted all of us as we are. He embraced all of us in our broken and sinful condition as part of His reality. For Jesus, this meant an encounter with evil that would lead to h...

God Is Our True Destiny This the second of a series of blogs on some major themes of The Interior Castle.When Teresa was a child, she was taught about the utter importance of saving her soul. This meant avoiding hell. So, she convinced her brother that they should go to the land of the Moors and die as martyrs and go straight to heaven. They only had gone short distance from their home when they began to re-think the issue and return home. It was Teresa’s first experience with ambivalence, selling God short with the very human practice of compromise. It was a hard and long journey for Teres...