| Minute Meditations
   "I prefer the monotony of obscure sacrifice to all ecstasies. To pick up a pin for love can convert a soul." These are the words of Thérèse of the Child Jesus, a Carmelite nun called the "Little Flower," who lived a cloistered life of obscurity in the convent of Lisieux, France. (In French-speaking areas, she is known as Thérèse of Lisieux.) And her preference for hidden sacrifice did indeed convert souls. Few saints of God are more popular than this young nun. Her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, is read and loved throughout the world. Thérèse Martin entered the convent at the age of 15 and died in 1897 at the age of 24. She was canonized in 1925, and two years later she and St. Francis Xavier were declared co-patrons of the missions.
Life in a Carmelite convent is indeed uneventful and consists mainly of prayer and hard domestic work. But Thérèse possessed that holy insight that redeems the time, however dull that time may be. She saw in quiet suffering redemptive suffering, suffering that was indeed her apostolate. Thérèse said she came to the Carmel convent "to save souls and pray for priests." And shortly before she died, she wrote: "I want to spend my heaven doing good on earth."
On October 19, 1997, Saint John Paul II proclaimed her a Doctor of the Church, the third woman to be so recognized, in light of her holiness and the influence on the Church of her teaching on spirituality. Her parents, Louis and Zélie were beatified in 2008. Comment: Thérèse has much to teach our age of the image, the appearance, the "sell." We have become a dangerously self-conscious people, painfully aware of the need to be fulfilled, yet knowing we are not. Thérèse, like so many saints, sought to serve others, to do something outside herself, to forget herself in quiet acts of love. She is one of the great examples of the gospel paradox that we gain our life by losing it, and that the seed that falls to the ground must die in order to live (John 12:24). Preoccupation with self separates modern men and women from God, from their fellow human beings, and ultimately from themselves. We must relearn to forget ourselves, to contemplate a God who draws us out of ourselves, and to serve others as the ultimate expression of selfhood. These are the insights of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and they are more valid today than ever. Quote: All her life St. Thérèse suffered from illness. As a young girl she underwent a three-month malady characterized by violent crises, extended delirium and prolonged fainting spells. Afterwards she was ever frail and yet she worked hard in the laundry and refectory of the convent. Psychologically, she endured prolonged periods of darkness when the light of faith seemed all but extinguished. The last year of her life she slowly wasted away from tuberculosis. And yet shortly before her death on September 30 she murmured, "I would not suffer less." Truly she was a valiant woman who did not whimper about her illnesses and anxieties. Here was a person who saw the power of love, that divine alchemy which can change everything, including weakness and illness, into service and redemptive power for others. Is it any wonder that she is patroness of the missions? Who else but those who embrace suffering with their love really convert the world? Patron Saint of: Florists Missionaries Pilots Presence
Dear Lord as I come to you today Freedom If God were trying to tell me something, would I know? Consciousness At this moment Lord I turn my thoughts to you. The Word of God Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church Reading 1 jb 9:1-12, 14-16 Job answered his friends and said: I know well that it is so; but how can a man be justified before God? Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, "What are you doing?" How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him! Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me. If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words. Responsorial Psalm ps 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15 R. (3) Let my prayer come before you, Lord. Daily I call upon you, O LORD; to you I stretch out my hands. Will you work wonders for the dead? Will the shades arise to give you thanks? R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord. Do they declare your mercy in the grave, your faithfulness among those who have perished? Are your wonders made known in the darkness, or your justice in the land of oblivion? R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord. But I, O LORD, cry out to you; with my morning prayer I wait upon you. Why, O LORD, do you reject me; why hide from me your face? R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord. Gospel lk 9:57-62 As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head." And to another he said, "Follow me." But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." And another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home." Jesus answered him, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God."
Remembering that I am still in God's presence, I imagine Jesus himself standing or sitting beside me, and say whatever is on my mind, whatever is in my heart, speaking as one friend to another.
Conclusion Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the ChurchI will follow you. (Luke 9:57)Three stories begin in today's Gospel reading—but we don't know how they end! Each one features Jesus and a potential disciple. Let's call them Volunteer One, Volunteer Two, and the Invitee. Volunteer One enthusiastically pledges to follow Jesus "wherever you go" (Luke 9:57). Jesus invites him to examine his motives and to reconsider his offer. This isn't going to be a rose-strewn path to worldly glory! Is Volunteer One ready for homelessness and rejection? For radical reliance on God rather than earthly security? Volunteer Two starts off well by calling Jesus "Lord." Then he spoils his offer with two telltale words: "but first ..." (Luke 9:61). His request for a good-bye visit home seems innocent enough, but Jesus sees it for what it is: a conditional offer and a sign of divided loyalties. There is no looking back in the kingdom; no "but firsts"! This is something to remember when we're tempted to put off prayer or a nudging from the Holy Spirit. Sandwiched between this pair is the Invitee (Luke 9:59-60). He's like Volunteer Two: willing to follow, but at a later date. Maybe even a much later date. The father he asks to go bury may be alive and well. Jewish burials took place on the day of death, so it's unlikely that the Invitee would be out listening to Jesus on that very day. What he seems to mean is, "Let me stay home till whenever Dad dies. Then I'll follow." To which Jesus seems to answer him: Following me is the most important decision you could ever make. Don't put it off. Don't try to control the timing and circumstances. Just come—and come quickly! This is Jesus' word to us as well. In a sense, we are the Invitee and the Volunteers, our stories still unfolding. Will we say yes and enter into the never-ending story of being loved and called by God? Which story speaks to you? Place yourself in it, then talk with Jesus from the heart. "Here I am, Lord. Help me to follow you."
Job 9:1-12, 14-16; Psalm 88:10-15 my2cents:
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