Sunday 17 October 2021
20th After Trinity
Sung Eucharist
Revd Nicholas Mercer
Some of you may be familiar with the comedy play “Dinner for one”
It was written by the British author Lauri Wylie in 1934 and is traditional viewing on New Year’s Eve in many European countries
The play is about Miss Sophie Warden who is celebrating her 90th birthday
Every year she has invites her four closest friends to dinner
These include, Sir Toby, Admiral von Schneider, Mr Pomeroy and Mr Winterbottom
There is only one problem – they are now all dead – and so Miss Warden invites her butler to impersonate her dinner guests
The play is fairly slapstick but has now taken on a cult status in a way that could never have been foreseen
And can be purchased along with celebratory fireworks as a special package for New Year’s Eve
In the Church calendar this week, we celebrate the feast of St Theresa of Avila
St Theresa was a Spanish mystic
She was born to a noble family, and entered the monastic life at the tender age of twenty
Later in life, she became instrumental in the reform of the Carmelite Order leading to the establishment of what are known as the “Discalced Carmelites”
Discalced nuns live in cloistered monasteries and follow a contemplative life – as well as walking barefoot or just in sandals
Although this Order was Spanish in origin, Reformed Carmelites spread throughout the world
In our country, the former art critic Sister Wendy is probably the best known
She lived, alone, in a caravan in the grounds of a monastery in Quidenham, Norfolk allotting just two hours a day to work in order to earn her living as an art critic
Apart from the Prioress – and a nun who brought her provisions – the rest of her life was dedicated to solitude and prayer
This might look like an extraordinary decision for Sister Wendy or any other person to take
However, such life was in keeping with the founder of the order herself, St Theresa
Even as a nun, finding herself consumed with work and worldly distractions, St Theresa broke away from the Carmelite order to pursue the contemplative life
She described this as her “second conversion”
And wrote an account in her autobiography entitled “The life of St Theresa” and then a subsequent work called “The Interior Castle”
Both are spiritual classics and wonderful guides for those seeking a closer relationship with God
I thought I might share some of her insights with you today
In her first book, “The life of St Theresa” she likens her solitary life to “setting out a garden for the Lord’s pleasure”
Like all gardens, it requires irrigation and she describes the way this might happen
As she put it, “you can carry the water by hand, construct a water wheel or divert a stream”
Alternatively, “you can wait for it to rain”
The analogy of the garden is, of course, a metaphor for prayer
At first, we need to deliberately concentrate our efforts on communing with God
But as time passes, conscious effort becomes less and less necessary and, once it rains, God has intervened on our behalf
This, in turn, brings about union with God -a union which, in the case of St Theresa, led to her ecstatic visions
Her second book, “The Interior Castle”, St Theresa uses an alternative metaphor
Inspired by the passage in John’s Gospel that “there are many rooms in my father’s house”
Theresa saw the human soul as moving though many different rooms until it found its way to the centre
Where lives the King of Heaven
As with the garden, there is a gradual shift from human action to divine gift
Having shed ourselves of the temporal realm we, paradoxically, fuse “the darkness of unknowing with divine illumination”
And find the capacity to live a life wholly centred upon God
From that hidden centre, the mission of God goes forth in our lives
St Theresa is one of the great theologians of the Catholic Church
She represents the highest point of Catholic Spiritual writing and, after Don Quixote, her autobiography is the most widely read prose classic in Spain
However, the most striking fact for me is that it is an intensely personal journey
St Theresa makes it clear that somehow we, as individuals, need to remove ourselves from the distractions of the temporal realm
It is only through this separation from others, that the believer is able to engage in a meaningful quest for God
Which, in turn, reveals a potential for Divine union
As one commentator remarked “The separation of the worshipper from the medieval flock”
If you like “Dinner for one”
This life and spiritual guidance of St Theresa stands alongside the readings this morning
Both are about feasts
The Old Testament reading invites us to God’s banquet to “come and eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed”
And the New Testament reminds us that we so often abuse that invitation
The life of St Theresa is, admittedly, an extreme way to accept the invitation –
But reminds us all that, to respond to God’s invitation, we require discipline and commitment
We need to break away from our temporal distractions – be it your farm or business
And be of the right disposition – in other words, properly dressed
In that sense, it is “dinner for one”
But the remarkable thing about this invitation to the banquet is that, although it comes to us individually, it is sent to us all collectively
Not just dinner for one, but dinner for all
And whereas, Sir Toby, Admiral von Schneider, Mr Pomeroy and Mr Winterbottom may be dead
Unlike, Miss Sophie Warden, we do dine with all those on earth and in heaven
And we don’t require a butler to impersonate!