Detachment

The other day, I called my friend, Elena. I was crying about something silly (it’s what happens when I am pregnant), and she told me, “Christine, you need to learn to detach.” She went on to tell me a story about St. Teresa of Avila and detachment. A little later, I was looking for a quote on something else, and I stumbled on these quotes from Catholic Tradition about detachment. I am posting them here for easy reference.

“Give me ten truly detached men. and I will convert the world with them.”
– St. Philip Neri

“Love consists not in feeling great things but in having great detachment and in suffering for the Beloved.”
-St. John of the Cross

“If you purify your soul of attachment to and desire for things, you will understand them spiritually. If you deny your appetite for them, you will enjoy their truth, understanding what is certain in them.”
– St. John of the Cross

“We must have a real living determination to reach holiness. I will be a saint means I will despoil myself of all that is not God; I will strip my heart of all created things; I will live in poverty and detachment; I will renounce my will, my inclinations, my whims and fancies, and make myself a willing slave to the will of God.”
– Bl. Mother Teresa

I am thankful to have a friend who keeps me grounded and offers sound advice.