October 1
Memorial of Saint Thérèse of
the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Lectionary: 649
Reading
1
Rejoice with
Jerusalem and be glad because of her,
all you who love her;
Exult, exult with her,
all you who were mourning over her!
Oh, that you may suck fully
of the milk of her comfort,
That you may nurse with delight
at her abundant breasts!
For thus says the LORD:
Lo, I will spread prosperity over her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like
an overflowing torrent.
As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms,
and fondled in her lap;
As a mother comforts her son,
so will I comfort you;
in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.
When you see this, your heart shall rejoice,
and your bodies flourish like the grass;
The LORD's power shall be known to his servants.
Responsorial
Psalm
R.
In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
O LORD, my heart is not proud,
nor are my eyes haughty;
I busy not myself with great things,
nor with things too sublime for me.
R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
Nay rather, I have stilled and quieted
my soul like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child on its mother's lap,
so is my soul within me.
R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
O Israel, hope in the LORD,
both now and forever.
R. In you, Lord, I have found my peace.
Alleluia
R.
Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The disciples
approached Jesus and said,
"Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?"
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
"Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever humbles himself like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/1001-memorial-therese-child-jesus.cfm
Saint
Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor
Marie
Francoise Thérèse Martin was born on 2 January, 1873 at Alencon, southwest of
Rouen in the north of France. She was the youngest daughter of Louis Martin, a
watchmaker, and his wife, Zelie-Marie Guerin, a lacemaker, who died of breast
cancer when Theresa was four years old. Both parents had wanted to enter
religious life and, when they could not, hoped their children would do so.
There were nine children, but only five girls survived.
Thérèse
grew up in a traditional religious home having little contact with the world,
typical of middle-class Catholicism of the time. In 1877, the family moved to
Lisieux in Normandy, where an aunt helped to look after the girls and where
Thérèse went to the Benedictine convent of Notre Dame du Pré. One after the
other her elder sisters entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux. At 15, after
her sister Marie entered the convent, Thérèse tried follow her, but the
superior of the convent would not allow it on account of her age. Later, her
father took Thérèse on a pilgrimage to Rome and, during a general audience with
Pope Leo XIII, she asked him to allow her to enter at 15, but the Pope said:
“Well, my child, do what the superiors decide.” Soon after, the Bishop of
Bayeux gave his consent for her to enter as a postulant in 1888. Her name in
religion was Sister Thérèse of the Infant Jesus and of the Holy Face. The
following year, 1894, her father suffered a stroke and died, and the fourth
sister, who had been looking after him, was now able to enter the Carmel.
Not
surprisingly, the overall description of Thérèse’s life is easily told. She followed
the daily routine of a Carmelite sister from day to day, but did so with great
commitment and devotion.
Apart from
being made assistant to the novice mistress in 1893 at the age of 20, she never
held any other significant responsibility in the community.
Thérèse is
known for her “Little Way”. In her quest for sanctity, she realized that it was
not necessary to accomplish heroic acts, or ‘great deeds’, in order to attain
holiness and to express her love of God. She wrote:
Love
proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden
me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers
are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least
actions for love.
Thérèse
would later be known as the “Little Flower”.
Thérèse’s
final years were marked by a steady decline that she bore without complaint. In
1895, she suffered a haemorrhage which was the first sign of the tuberculosis
which was to bring about her early death. On the morning of Good Friday, 1896,
she began bleeding at the mouth brought on by her pulmonary condition. Her TB
had now taken a turn for the worse.
As a
result, she was not able, as she had so dearly wanted, to offer herself for a
Carmelite mission foundation in Hanoi, Vietnam (then French Indo-China). She
remained at the Lisieux convent, accepting great suffering without complaint.
In July 1897, she was moved to the convent infirmary, and just three months
later died on 30 September, 1897 at age 24. On her death-bed, she is reported
to have said:
I have
reached the point of not being able to suffer any more, because all suffering
is sweet to me.
Carmelite
convent in Lisieux
It is most likely that, like most Sisters in her secluded situation, nothing
more would have been heard of her. However, she had been told, under obedience
to write a short spiritual autobiography now known as L’Histoire d’une
Ame (The Story of a Soul). In 1895, she began writing a memoir of her
childhood under instructions from her sister, Pauline, known in religious life
as Mother Agnes of Jesus. While on retreat in September 1896, Thérèse wrote the
second part, consisting of a letter to her eldest sister, Sister Marie of the
Sacred Heart. In June 1897, when Mother Agnes realised the gravity of Thérèse’s
illness, she immediately asked Mother Marie, the prioress, to allow Thérèse
write another memoir with more details of her religious life. It was published
after Thérèse’s death, after editing by her sister, Pauline (Mother Agnes).
The book
became a religious best-seller of the 20th century, and was translated into
most European languages. It was also a best seller in Asia as well. Its
publication was accompanied by reports of miraculous cures and countless
‘favours’ granted through her intercession—and it is still in print.
Since
1973, further editions (including the original version of The Story of
a Soul), her letters, poems, prayers, and plays she wrote for convent
recreations have been published.
Pope Pius
X signed the decree starting the process of canonization on 10 June, 1914. Pope
Benedict XV, in an unusual move, dispensed with the usual 50-year delay
required between death and beatification. On 14 August, 1921, he promulgated a
decree on the heroic virtues of Thérèse and gave an address on Thérèse’s way of
confidence and love, as a model for the whole Church.
Thérèse
was beatified in April 1923, and canonized two years later, on 17 May, 1925, by
Pope Pius XI, just 28 years after her death. Her feast day was added to the
Catholic liturgical calendar in 1927, to be celebrated on October 3. In 1969,
Pope Paul VI moved it to 1 October, the day after her death.
Thérèse of
Lisieux is the patron saint of those with HIV-AIDS, aviators, florists and
missions. In 1927, Pope Pius XI named her a patron of the missions (with St
Francis Xavier) and in 1944, Pope Pius XII named her co-patroness of France
(along with St Joan of Arc).
By the
Apostolic Letter, Divini Amoris Scientia (The Science of
Divine Love) of 19 October, 1997, Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of
the Universal Church, one of only three women so named (the others being Teresa
of Avila and Catherine of Siena). In fact, Thérèse was the only saint named as
a Doctor of the Church during John Paul II’s pontificate.
While
presenting a deceptively simple and even pious image, it is clear that Thérèse
was very close to the message of the gospel and, in her sufferings, she showed
a great spirit of courage, strength and self-sacrifice. Her interior asceticism
was based on selfless and unconditional obedience rather than on simple
exterior acts of penance.
The
influence of her spirituality would lead many in her own convent, in her Order
and in the Church generally to a greater appreciation of the asceticism arising
from a faithful living out of ordinary community and daily life. In art Thérèse
is represented in a Carmelite habit holding a bunch of roses in memory of her
promise to “let fall a shower of roses” of miracles and other favours.
Some
things which Thérèse said:
- I am a very little soul, who
can offer only very little things to the Lord.
- I will spend my Heaven doing
good on earth.
- After my death I will let fall
a shower of roses.
- While desiring to be a priest,
I admire and envy the humility of St Francis of Assisi and I feel the
vocation of imitating him in refusing the sublime dignity of the
priesthood.
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Wednesday,
October 1, 2025
Ordinary
Time
Opening Prayer
Father, you show your almighty power in your mercy and
forgiveness.
Continue to fill us with your gifts of love.
Help us to hurry towards the
eternal life your promise and come to share in the joys of your kingdom.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Luke 9: 57-62
As they travelled along, they met
a man on the road who said to Jesus, 'I will follow you wherever you go.'
Jesus answered, 'Foxes have holes and the birds of the air
have nests, but the
Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.'
Another to whom he said, 'Follow
me,' replied, 'Let me go and bury my father first.'
But he answered, 'Leave the
dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom
of God.' Another said, 'I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say
goodbye to my people at home.'
Jesus said to him, 'Once the hand is laid on the plough, no
one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.'
Reflection
In today's Gospel the long and
hard journey of Jesus continues from the periphery of Galilee toward the
capital city. Leaving Galilee, Jesus enters in Samaria and continues toward
Jerusalem. But not all understand him. Many abandon him, because the demands
are enormous. But others get close to him and present themselves to follow
Jesus. At the beginning of his pastoral activity in Galilee, Jesus had called
three: Peter, James and John (Lk 5: 8-11). Here also, in Samaria there are
three persons who present themselves or who are called. In the responses of Jesus
there are the requirements or conditions in order to be able to be his
disciples.
•
Luke 9: 56-58: The first one of the three new
disciples. At that time, as they travelled along, they met a man who said to
Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus answered:
"Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man
has nowhere to lay his head." To this first person who wants to be his
disciple, Jesus asks him to divest himself of everything: he has nowhere to lay
his head; much less should he seek a false security where to lay the thoughts
of his head
•
Luke 9: 59-60: The second one of the three new
disciples. To another one he says "Follow me." And he replied,
"Let me go and bury my father first." Jesus replied: "Leave the
dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the Kingdom
of God." To this second person called by Jesus to follow Him, he asks him
to leave the dead bury the dead. It is a question of a popular saying used to
say: leave aside the things of the past. Do not lose time with what happened
and look ahead. After having discovered the new life in Jesus, the disciple
should not lose time with what has happened.
•
Luke 9: 61-62: The third one of the three new
disciples. "Another said: I will follow you, Sir, but first let me go and
say good-bye to my people at home." But Jesus replied: once the hand is
laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God."
To this third person called to be a disciple, Jesus asks to break the family
bonds of union. On another occasion he had said: Anyone who loves his father
and his mother more than me cannot be my disciple (Lk 14: 26; Mt 10: 37). Jesus
is more demanding than the Prophet Elijah who allowed Elisha to greet and take
leave from his parents (1 K 19: 19-21). This also means to break the
nationalistic bonds of race and the patriarchal family structure.
•
These are three fundamental requirements as
necessary conditions for those who want to be the disciples of Jesus:
(a)
to abandon material goods,
(b)
not to be attached to personal goods lived and
accumulated in the past (c) to break
away from the family bonds.
In reality, nobody, even wishing it, can break neither the
family bonds, nor break away from things lived in the past. What is asked is to
know how to reintegrate everything (material goods, personal life and family
life) in a new way around the new axis which is Jesus and the Good News of God
which he has brought to us.
•
Jesus himself lived and became aware of what he
was asking to his followers. With his decision to go up to Jerusalem Jesus
reveals his project. His journey toward Jerusalem (Lk 9: 51 to 19: 27) is
represented as the undertaking (Lk 9: 51), the exodus (Lk 9: 31) or the
crossing (Lk 17: 11). Arriving in Jerusalem Jesus fulfils the exodus, the
undertaking or the definitive crossing from this world toward the Father (Jn
13: 1). Only a truly free person can do this, because such an exodus
presupposes to dedicate one's whole life for the brothers (Lk 23: 44- 46: 24,
51). This is the exodus, the crossing, the undertaking of which the communities
should become aware in order to be able to carry on Jesus' project.
Personal Questions
•
Compare each one of these three requirements
with your life.
•
Which are the problems that arise in your life
because of the decision which you have taken to follow Jesus?
Concluding Prayer
Yahweh, you examine me and know me, you know when I
sit, when I rise, you understand my thoughts from afar. (Ps 139,1-2)
