Changing the minds of people who don’t want to change is most difficult. Consider the struggles that St Teresa of Ávila had as she tried to reform her Order, facing opposition from both internal and external forces. Her strength of faith and her strong connection with the Lord through prayer allowed her the focus to keep to the path that she began, leading to papal approval of the Discalced Carmelites just two years before her death.

Today’s readings help us to understand the basis of St Teresa’s desires and struggles as we note how God’s grand design of love invites us to an open-hearted relationship of life rather than approaches to God that are rigid and defensive. In Ephesians, we hear how God seeks to unite all things through the richness of grace that is showered upon us and how we too are privy to these mysteries because of our faith. God seeks us in love and we are invited to respond in kind, not with a rigid mindset that the scribes and Pharisees had in shutting down all opposition to their words. Instead, we must be open to see how the Lord leads us to Him. St Teresa’s familiarity with God allowed her to lead the reform with this openness and we’re also invited to gently reform our lives by being open to God. We pray for the grace of openness to God, allowing the richness of God’s grace to touch our hearts.