“If I had understood then, as I do now, how this great King really dwells within this little palace of my soul, I should not have left Him alone so often” (St. Teresa of Avila).
St. Teresa arrives at an essential conclusion, which we should also immediately adhere to. In fact, this reality applies to every soul in a state of grace. The Blessed Trinity dwells in it and makes it His temple. If we accept the constant invitation of the Great King, His indwelling will become a constant source of life in us. In the depths of our soul we will listen attentively to our Father, we will dialog with Him, we will cultivate love….
No one from outside will be able to take away this inner sanctuary. Come what may: even if the enemies try to destroy the holy faith by every possible means, even if all the visible temples are destroyed and desecrated, even if the faithful are denied access to the House of God, no one will be able to destroy the inner temple of the great King if we remain faithful to Him.
But how can we learn to spend more and more time in this inner temple? This will not be possible if we do not dedicate a special time to retreating into our interior. Let us remember our Lord Himself, who often withdrew to a mountain to be alone with His Father (cf. e.g. Jn 6:15). Let us think of the “little half hour” that our Heavenly Father asks of us to be with Him (http://en.elijamission.net/the-little-half-hour/). The masters of the spiritual life insist again and again that we should withdraw into our inner self in order to deepen our spiritual life and thus become more spiritual persons.
Even if we initially set aside only a few minutes each day, the Lord will show us how precious this time becomes for us, and our soul will leap for joy.