Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Busy day today, but I didn't want to miss a chance to talk about one my favorite saints: St. Therese of Lisieux.  Therese was a contemplative Carmelite nun in the 19th century.  She died at the age of 24 of tuberculosis, but before dying, she taught much about welcoming Jesus into our lives and loving as He taught us to love.

One of my favorite images that she talks about in her autobiography is that she would want to welcome Jesus to sleep in her little boat.  She is referring to the Gospel story (Mt 8:23-27) about the calming of the sea.  The disciples got scared and woke Jesus up from His sleep because they didn't understand who He was and that there really was nothing to worry about.  St. Therese wanted to welcome Jesus to come and rest in her own little boat.  She would not wake Him from His needed rest because she would be content knowing that her Lord and Savior was with her.

She also taught about the importance of loving as Christ did.  She called this her "Little Way" and also referred to it as her vocation: love.  She strove to love all those that she met, even when they might annoy her or get on her nerves or criticize something she did.  She would love.  That is what we are called to do as well. 

The Prophet Zechariah in both the first reading and in the psalm response talk about knowing that God is with us.  He talks about how people will so desire to have that presence of God with themselves that they will cling to the garments of God's people so that they can get in on the action as well.  The point of this Scripture is to help us realize that God is with us and that we can rejoice in that.  God is with us because He loves us and that is something to rejoice about.  We are called to help share that love.  May St. Therese pray for us so that we can help share that Good News to all we meet.