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Happy Feast of Saint Teresa of Avila
Today we celebrate Saint Teresa of Avila, a saint that is near and dear to my heart. Here’s a short piece I wrote in honor of the feast for Take Five For Faith, a publication by our friends over at TrueQuest Communications.
With God you’re never alone
Prayer can be lonely at times as we struggle to feel the nearness of God’s presence. It’s a comfort to know that even the great saint and doctor of the church Teresa of Avila also struggled with loneliness. No matter how much or how intensely she prayed, she’d 
sometimes feel a distance between herself and God. Using the words of the psalms, Teresa wrote, “I have watched and become as a sparrow alone on the housetop” (Psalm 102). Though suffering the pain of loneliness, Teresa assures us that God is right there with us and can use even our emptiness as a vehicle of grace. When you are like a sparrow alone on the heights, crying out into the vastness of the sky, what calls you away from the edge?
TODAY’S READINGS: Ephesians 1:11-14; Luke 12:1-7
“Do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.”
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{ 12 comments }
Loneliness is part of our human life. One has a share of it regardless of one’s vocation. At a certain stage in our psychospiritual life we learn and begin to
value solitude. Solitude then begins to be an antidote to some loneliness
that sets in inevitably in our journey to the TRUE SELF and ultimately to
God.
I am very interested in the contrast between “loneliness” and “solitude” – there’s a kernel of wonderful truth here. This is a question I’ve been pondering for myself recently: how are they different? how does one move from one to the other?
Loneliness is living our existential aloneness and solitariness while solitude is also living our basic solitariness but in God’s presence and communion with. To arrive at solitude is to move to one’s inwardness, the invitation to be at home with one’s interiority, one’s center, one’s core where God dwells. The invitation to this movement usually happens at midpoint in one’s journey.
marialigayavalencia
i think the main difference is longing. solitude is being apart from others, and we can choose it. loneliness comes when we desire company, and we can experience it in a roomful of people. as to moving from one to the other, i can’t say, except maybe to offer that folks better than i seem able to be content with the presence of god and can still be set apart from people with no ill effect. because that presence keeps them from too much loneliness. everyone gets lonely sometimes, though.
wanted to share with you the other night after praying to the beautiful
St Teresa i went out side to do something late at night and had the most beautiful smell of flowers surround me ………. thank you St.Teresa <3
Loneliness is really part of the human condition. It may occur in a crowded room full of people it may occur when one is alone. It is often made worse by a fear that we are not living in a good way or that life is leaving us behind. Solitude on the other hand occurs when one learns to accept that he or she is really all alone no matter where we are. Yes we can have company or be alone, but solitude begins when we are able to accept ourselves and begin to humbly understand that we must reach out to others with our God given talents. It is a part of not needing to fear life but to live in a loving way. The degree of solitude that a person can obtain is an indication of grace and inter strength. dennis
I think solitude is a more spiritual oneness with God versus Lonliness which is more Earth centered. I believe when we put too much emphasis on those things associated with this Earth such as people’s response to our wanting to be close or the need for money, food, alcohol as a means of happiness or peace then we experience loneliness because I think there is no happiness that can ever be sustained by earthly elements. Solitude to me is a sense of spiritual oneness with God to the point where we are shielded by the desire for Earthly needs and hence eventual loneliness.
The Rosary truly calls me away from the edge. When I say the Rosary, I know God is there, even when I’m feeling like the sparrow. It gives me hope.
Hi Marsha,
Was considering the same thought …. Loneliness vs. Solitude
Just finished reading an exceptional book titled “God’s joyful Surprise: Finding Yourself Loved” by Sue Monk Kidd (one of my favorite authors).
According to Sue …
“Loneliness is the agonizing sense of being isolated in the world, without friends, completely alone. In solitude, however, we sense our deep oneness with God and keep company with Him.
And … “Solitude allows us to confront God, to come face to face with him in a deep, free and re-creating way. Solitude ushers us into the freedom of listening. It is not all struggle and heaviness”.
Quoting from Chapter 8 “I am a Word of Love from God” – Pages 99, 100 and 103.
Blessings on your day,
Kathleen
Thank you for the Sue Monk Kidd reference. I love her writing too and didn’t know about this book, which I’ll look for. I find that solitude is a contentment with oneself and sense of connectedness to that inner presence that is like a small flame, which perhaps for me is God. Loneliness is like a vacuum that can’t be filled even when you’re surrounded by people, as another commentor mentioned.
At mass the other day I heard that Mother Teresa herself often felt lonely and distanced from God, which surprised me. Even those who seem to be living a life fully in service to God must at least sometimes feel that way.
Thanks, Kathleen for your insights!
Leigh,
I think you are correct. Our human struggle is to be more connected to each other and less lonely because of that connection – to see Christ in each other and to connect to that Christ. When we struggle to use our God given talents to love and serve each other, then we are loving and serving our Great God, but in the human condition there are times of loneliness and depressive feelings and these are the times to reconsider our actions.