Saint Teresa of Avila - Interior Castles - Sixth Dwelling Places - Holy Touches
Saint Teresa of Avila - Interior Castles - Sixth Dwelling Places - Holy Touches
Nor did Moses know how to describe all that he saw in the bush, but only what God wished him to describe. But if God had not shown secrets to his soul along with a certitude that made him recognize and believe that they were from God, Moses could not have entered into so many severe trials. But he must have understood such deep things among the thorns of that bush that the vision gave him the courage to do what he did for the people of Israel. So, Sisters, we don’t have to look for reasons to understand the hidden things of God. Since we believe He is powerful, clearly we must believe that a worm with as limited a power as ours will not understand His grandeurs. Let us praise Him, for He is pleased that we come to know some of them.
Even the most specially chosen prophet cannot fully understand the revelation God gives him. Saint Teresa points to Moses, a man whose wisdom, stature, and role in Salvation History goes unchallenged. As God's chosen prophet, Moses led the Hebrew people out of captivity and molded them into a people destined to become a light to the Gentiles, the lineage of the Messiah, and the seed of Christianity. Yet even Moses, strengthened by divine certitude, showed ignorance, hesitancy, and fear in the face of the great destiny God gave him.
Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Exodus 4:1 Moses answered, and said: They will not believe me, nor hear my voice, but they will say: The Lord hath not appeared to thee.
The hesitancy of Moses and his likely ignorance of the long term results of his mission arenot unique. Jonah fled from God when called, Isaiah thought himself unworthy and Jeremiah insisted he was too young. One by one though, God prepares each prophet, not with bold confidence in themselves, but with humble faith in His Word.
Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Jonah 3:1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.
Isaiah 6:7 He touched my mouth.
Jeremiah 1:9 I have put my words in thy mouth.
God does not choose the self-confident man because such a man would pursue God's mission in his own will. He chooses the uncertain man, and instills confidence not in himself, but - more powerfully - in God’s Sovereign will. Saint Teresa's wisdom, as she explains through Moses, is directed to her fellow nuns but extends through time to all men. None of us need “look for reasons to understand the hidden things of God.” There is a hidden wisdom between the lines of the overt wisdom in the books of the great prophets. They all second guessed God's calling and rationalized their hesitancy with human reason before triumphing in God's call to faith. Saint Teresa points to this through Moses but applies it to us through her own similar calling.
For each of the great prophets touched by God in Scripture, there is a vast and unwritten number of divine touches on all humanity. God touches every soul in Salvation History, not just the revered prophets of Scripture. Many of our touches are so sublime we do not even know they come to us from above. If our heart is moved by the sight of a poor homeless woman and we give her money, we are touched by God. Yet, human wisdom second-guesses God's grace, whispering that she will waste it on drugs or alcohol. And then - like Jonah - we flee from the mission God calls us to, a mission that should be inspired by faith in His holy touch rather than according to the sight of our fallen wisdom.
Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Second Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by faith, and not by sight.
Posted Nov 14, 2025, 6:51 PM UTC