To read the texts click on the texts: Isa 66:10-14; 1 Cor 13:4-13; Mt 18:1-4
St. Therese of the Child
Jesus is one of my most favourite saints. I admire and am inspired by her for a
number of reasons, but one of the most important reasons for this is her
response to life. She had more challenges than most of us will ever have, yet
her response was always positive no matter what the challenge she faced. In
this regard she teaches us how we too must be able to see the hand of God in
everything that happens to us.
She was born in 1873 and
died very young at the age of 24 (1897). At the age of 14, she had an
experience that transformed her life. She decided to give her whole life to God
and entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux. Though she was often sick and often
plagued with doubts, she remained faithful and received the ability to find God
in all things and all things in God. Her focus was not on doing great things
but on doing all that she did with unconditional love. She would do even the
most ordinary tasks with extraordinary love.
The Gospel text for the
feast is taken from what is termed by as Matthew’s “Community Discourse”
(18:1-35). It is the fourth of the long discourses in Matthew. Some see the
discourse as divided clearly into two parts (18:1-14 and 18:15-35), with
various indications, which point to such a division. Some of these indications
are as follows: Both sections end with a parable (18:12-13 and 18:23-34), after
the parable is a concluding statement of Jesus, which begins with the word “So”
(18:14.35), there is also in the sayings, a reference to the heavenly Father
and the saying is about the subject of the preceding section (“little ones” and
“brother/sister”).
The discourse begins with
a question about the disciples regarding greatness. In his response, Jesus
makes clear that being in the kingdom or coming into it, is not a matter of
one’s talents or qualities, but “becoming like a child”. In first-century Judaism,
children were often regarded as inferior and were treated as property rather
than as persons. The point Jesus makes here is that one must acknowledge
dependence on the Father. The reception of a child is an indication that one
has accepted the values of the kingdom and one is no longer concerned about
being greatest.
This was the attitude of
St. Therese to life and she lived as a child of God all through her life. She
inspires and invites us to the same.
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