![]() Teresa lived during the Reformation, which posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church, shifting power away from the clergy and relocating spiritual and theological authority to Scripture. ![]() She served others by writing hundreds of letters of guidance and encouragement, was a gifted Spiritual Director, and functioned as a spiritual teacher even though as a woman she was forbidden to preach or comment on Scripture. She practiced mental and contemplative prayer unmediated by the official priesthood, which almost got her burned at the stake. Teresa challenged the values and conditions of the Church and covenant life which both made a life of prayer more difficult. During this time, the Church was facing deep schism and heresy, vigorously calling for unity and control. Alongside John of the Cross, she reformed the Carmelite Order, taking back its origins of simplicity, poverty, and contemplative prayer. Teresa modeled for me the living balance between action and contemplation. Teresa of Avila’s leadership model and her seminal work, Interior Castle, shaped and continues to shape and mold my leadership style and understanding of the formational journey. This is how I first learned of Teresa of Avila. I was particularly focused on the integration of the formational journey with the leadership journey of spiritual leaders. In seminary, my primary interest was leadership and spiritual formation. ![]()
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