Teresa of Ávila’s Call to Loving Service  

Jon Hokama, Teaching Assistant for CAC’s online course, Interior Castle, shares a mystical experience of visiting the shrine of St. Teresa of Ávila—and his feeling of responsibility towards his fellow students of contemplation as he guides their path towards deeper union with the Divine. 

Anyone who has begun to seek God’s presence through centering prayer knows that the Divine encounter can be so subtle—almost illusive. So too is the call of the mystic to serve others. I recall a time many years ago when I attempted to crack open Teresa of Ávila’s “Interior Castle.” That is as far as I got–nowhere. So how did it come to pass that I served as Teaching Assistant (TA) for the Center for Action and Contemplation’s Online Course the Interior Castle? And how was I led to my soul-journey with Teresa? It began with a trip to Spain.  

Having been declined for admission to the Living School in 2018, I was encouraged to take my first online course from CAC. There, I experienced how wisely and lovingly my TA supported students’ reflections and explorations. I was surprised and moved by the spiritual depth of those interactions. Something in me said, “I would love to do this!” 

My background as both ordained Presbyterian campus minister and online business instructor were the perfect preparation. I met with my TA’s supervisor, and we agreed that this position fit my skills and calling, and I began TA work that fall. 

In preparation for serving as a teaching assistant, I audited the Interior Castle course in the fall of 2019. Almost immediately, I found Jim Finley and Mirabai Starr’s teaching drew me into what had been an impenetrable text. I intuited that Jim and Mirabai were mystics who knew Teresa of Ávila’s world intimately and were speaking from some first-hand experience of abiding there. It may have been a foreign language to me, but they whetted my appetite for the mansions of the Interior Castle, and I became excited about supporting students on the journey to understanding the text at a deeper level. 

I view ministry through the lens that my own God-journey should be used in service of others. I wrote to my CAC supervisor in November about plans my wife and I made to go to Málaga, Spain in January 2020. 

I was excited to be in the region where Teresa of Ávila and St. John of the Cross lived and worked, and I planned to spend time learning about them as part of my personal journey and in preparation for my role as a teaching assistant in the coming year. Little did I know where that trip to Spain would lead me.

We visited one of Teresa’s convents, Iglesia de la Nuestra Senora de la Merced in Ronda, by Divine coincidence. A friend of our daughter was visiting us in Málaga and invited us to go with him to Ronda, the location of one of Teresa’s convent homes.   

In doing further research, I discovered that this convent was well known for housing a relic, the incorrupt left hand of Teresa of Ávila, which you can still see today. Teresa died in 1582 and Catholic churches in the 16^th century had the tradition of retaining relics—body parts of the saints—believing that they imbued a place with power, status and healing power. In that tradition, The Superior Gracian had Teresa’s left hand taken back to Ronda as a comfort to the sisters where she had spent many of her later years. 

I was awe-struck when we arrived at the Iglesia de la Nuestra Senora de la Merced Convent in Ronda, Málaga and saw Teresa’s beautiful “Nada te turbe” prayer inscribed in her handwriting.   

We walked in and asked the sisters about seeing Teresa’s relic. They gave us a key and pointed to the room where Teresa’s hand was displayed. We entered the small room off the sanctuary. When I beheld Teresa’s gloved left hand, much to my surprise, I experienced a charge of energy – Teresa’s Life Force perhaps – in that little room. I felt the tingle of awe, unexpected excitement, and a deep sense of the numinous sweep over me.  

Typically, I do not see this kind of artifact as an incorruptible relic signifying the God-permeated presence of this person. But in that moment, I experienced something reminiscent of charismatic experiences in my younger days. I felt deep within me the experience of being with her. 

As I walked with students through the Interior Castle course in 2021 and 2022, I found my understanding of the material taking on a new depth dimension. I began to experience a gentle intuition not unlike that encounter in the room with Teresa’s relic. It guided me when I responded to student posts. It was a sort of everyday power source, not an overwhelming jolt. That quiet “Teresan presence” carried me through my final project of the Living School final project despite being in a COVID-induced fog. Teresa’s “Interior Castle” became an inspiration for how to see my own journey in my work and as a teaching assistant and guide.   

I realized I had been deeply energized by that encounter with her in 2020. Who else but my beloved Auntie Teresa could have met me along the way to co-create this beautiful deepening of my soul’s journey through longing and service of God? 

Reflect with Us 
Have you had a moving experience in a sacred place? What action did this experience inspire you to take? Share your reflection with us. 

Jon Hokama is a third-generation Japanese American, the son of an Episcopal church organist and medical school professor. He serves as an online teaching assistant and guide for the Center for Action and Contemplation and as Associate Director of Finance and Fund Development with Wisdom & Money. Jon and his wife Susan, 2023 Living School sendees, have a ministry of hospitality and spiritual direction and love the mountains, trees and the ocean.   

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