This is Holy Family School of Faith.

Today the church celebrates the life of Teresa of Avala,

who is John of the Cross, are the two most important masters on prayer and the spiritual life.

So let's begin in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We begin by calling to mind a number of things

for which we are grateful to God.

And if you're listening to this audio and you want to pause it and spend more

time in gratitude, feel free to do so. Let's also look back on our last 24 hours and see the way that we failed to respond to the things, the circumstances got allowed in our lives

with the result that we were angry,

frustrated, anxious, worried. Knowing that we will often face trials, let's make a game plan to respond in a better way.

Meditating on the life and teaching of Teresa of Avala today, it is a consolation to learn that Teresa struggled for 18 years with distraction in prayer until she read the confessions by St. Augustine, which helped her to realize her problem.

In prayer, she was depending too much on herself.

And she learned that prayer is more about what God wants to do in us than what we do.

And if we really want to grow in prayer,

we will abandon self-reliance and we will learn to depend entirely on Jesus.

How do we do this?

We begin by spending time alone with Jesus in friendship.

Our Father who art in heaven, hallow would be your name.

Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is. Father who art in heaven, hollow would be your name.

Thy kingdom come, I will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

If this is our daily bread,

forgive us our trespasses,

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