靈魂的心堡-林順明神父主講
Interior Castle of St. Teresa
Many writers have proposed various ways of looking at the inner world within us. None of them is entirely satisfactory, as the inner world of each person is unique. Numerous images have been employed over centuries to come to a close approximation to what is taking place in the soul.
Each person has an immortal soul created by God. A spiritual entity, we can only understand it indirectly, as revealed by divine revelation. God is in love with man, and speaks to him in the heart. Man is created in love by God to love him in return. At our baptism, we receive the indwelling of the triune God within the soul, who dwells in the interior castles of our souls.
Describing the soul that is pure as a brilliant diamond, St Teresa aptly brought out the three qualities of a soul in the state of grace: the transparency of the diamond has nothing to hide; it is one in its entirety and is beautiful in the light of God. The darkness created by sin can and must be removed if one is to appreciate the soul’s true dignity and value as the Creator so willed it to be. Stripped of the numerous trappings of sin, we realize the holiness of the soul is infinitely simple and beautiful.
We enter within ourselves spiritually. Prayer is the door into the castle. It is also the way to arrive at the Lord. Prayer is a dialogue, and the Lord is the sure guide who wants to be found and does not play games with us.
What is prayer？ St Teresa says it is to spend time with One whom we know loves us. Three conditions are needed for prayer: knowing the One, time and love. Sounds obviously simple, but that is really all there is to prayer. Being aware of these conditions as we enter within our castles, we will not lose our way in the various rooms that we find ourselves.
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