This meditation is taken from:
Let Nothing Disturb You: A Journey to the Center of the Soul with Teresa of Avila,
edited by John Kirvan, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN, 1996
"Our Lord asks but two things of us: love for God and love for our neighbor. These are the two virtues that we must strive to attain. If we practice them perfectly we shall be doing the will of God, and so will find the union we seek. The most certain sign that we keep these two commandments is that we have a genuine love for each other. We may not know for certain whether we love God, but there can be no doubt whether or not we love our neighbor.
If we fail to love our neighbor, we are deceiving ourselves if we think we love God.
But if we possess a true love of neighbor, we will certainly attain union with our Lord.
Beg God grant you true love of others and you will be rewarded with more than you know how to desire. God will insist that you surrender your self interests for those of your neighbors, taking upon yourself their burdens. Do not believe that this will cost you nothing and that you will find it all done for you by God. Never forget what the love God bore for all of us cost the Son of God. To free others - his neighbors - from death he suffered the most painful death of all, the death of the cross."
~Teresa of Avila
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