St. Theresa of Lisieux, Oct 1

 St. Theresa of Lisieux, Oct 1

Isaiah 66:10-14/ Matthew 18:1-5

God makes a promise to Israel; "You will rejoice.”

 Author Ardis Whitman tells how one day a musician and his wife drove up to the peak of the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts. From the peak, they could see three states sprawled out at their feet: Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. The sun shining on the valleys and lakes below made the view spectacular. The musician was so moved by the sight that he ran to his car, got his cornet, and began to play it to his heart’s content. Something like this happens in today’s reading. The reader glimpses, momentarily, what the Messiah’s coming will mean for Israel. Israel’s joy at the Messiah’s coming, however, can’t compare to the joy that Jesus’ final coming will bring to those who love him.

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What emotions do we feel inside us when we think of the final coming of Jesus? “The sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for US.” Romans 8:18

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Generally speaking, our hand has five fingers. And we can assume that each finger has a significant purpose. First of all, there is the thumb. It is often used to give the “thumbs-up” to mean that things are good and alright. It is also important for the thumbprint for some legal documents. The index finger is generally used to point in the general direction of things. To index means to point out or to show something, so that is why the second finger is called the index finger. The third finger, or middle finger, which is the longest of the fingers, is used to help delicate functions like writing and typing. Then there is the fourth finger which is also called the ring finger.

And the last, which is also the smallest of all the fingers, is called the little finger, or also called the pinkie. That little finger has this unique name because it originated from the Dutch language where the word “pinkie” is used to describe something tiny or small.

 Hence the word “pinkie” would best describe the little finger. So those are the names of the five fingers of the hand – the thumb, the index finger, the middle finger, the ring finger and the pinkie. Of course, all the five fingers have a purpose. But which finger would we assume that has the least important function?

 Actually, on the contrary, the pinkie is the strongest finger of the hand. In the traditional way of holding the Japanese sword, the last three fingers of each hand are used to grip the sword handle tightly, with the thumb and index fingers holding it loosely. The little fingers of the two hands must grip the handle of the sword tightly. Because, surprisingly, the little finger is the strongest finger of the hand, in terms of gripping. So, it is surprising how much strength and power the little finger has, isn’t it? It may be the smallest of all the fingers, it may be the last finger in the hand, it’s just a little finger, but it certainly has considerable strength. 

In fact, losing the little finger can be very inconvenient. It may mean losing the grip of things, practically as well as symbolically. So, with this, we may be able to understand what Jesus meant when He said in the gospel: The one who makes himself as little as a little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

It may not seem logical as to how the little ones are the greatest. But that is the way of God. God’s ways are above man’s ways, His thoughts are above our thoughts. In fact, God will cast away the proud and mighty, and He will raise up the little and the lowly. Today we celebrate the feast-day of St. Teresa of Lisieux. 

Her religious name is St. Teresa of the Child Jesus. And her way to holiness and eventually to sainthood is known as the “Little Way”. She believed that God shows love by mercy and forgiveness. The way to approach God is to be like how a little child approaches its parent – with open arms and complete trust.

 In fact, St. Teresa wrote that she could not understand how anyone could be afraid of a God who became a child in order to live among us. St. Teresa showed how she lived out that “Little Way” by taking on all the lowly and humble tasks in her convent. She worked as a sacristan taking care of the altar and chapel. She served in the refectory and in the laundry room. She took care of the old and sick sisters.

 Her life was just so routine, mundane and ordinary. But she did small things with great love. She even had another name – The Little Flower. Because in all she did, she offered it as a little flower to Jesus. She was just so child-like in her faith, but within 28 years of her death, she was canonized and is now a great saint. St. Teresa was like that last finger of the hand – small and little, yet strong and powerful. 

St. Teresa of the Child Jesus, the Little Flower, has taught us and shown us that in the small, little and lowly, God’s mighty love and power is shown.

 That will also remind us that in Psalm 8:2, there is this verse that says : From the lips of children and infants, you Lord, have built a fortress against your enemies and to silence the foe. Hence it is of great importance to teach our children to pray and to help them pray in a simple and little way. 

Yet it is in the simple and humble prayers of children and even of infants that will turn on God’s mighty love and power. It is in their simple and humble prayers that we will find the solution to our problems and difficulties. It is in their simple and humble prayers that we will realize that power is found not in the thumb but in the last little finger. And that should make us want to be like little children because God favours the lowly, the little and the humble. 

So, all the more we should want to pray with our children because their prayer is mighty and powerful. Jesus said that anyone who welcomes a little child in His name welcomes Him. St. Teresa took that little way and she found Jesus. As for us, it’s either the little way, or no other way.

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Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of a great and holy woman, a renowned saint, known as the Little Flower, and more appropriately, the Little Flower of Jesus in full. She is St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, a Discalced Carmelite religious nun, who devoted her entire life and work to the cause of the Lord and His people.

 St. Therese of Lisieux was very renowned both during and after her life in her piety and her spirituality, and she was truly devoted and dedicated in complete faith to her Lord and God, and ever since her mother passed away very early in her life, she had been alone in the world, and in her loneliness as well in her constant sickness, she suffered greatly, in silence and in sorrow.

 St. Therese of Lisieux encountered a divine experience as she grew older, and she experience a complete transformation of herself, where once she felt sorrow and suffering, the love and joy of Christ had entered her and made her anew. She entered the religious life following the example of her older sister before her. She took on the name of Therese in honour of St. Teresa of Avila, the founder and the great saint of the order of the Discalced Carmelites. 

She persevered through the difficult life of a religious sister, despite her weakness and constant sickness, and even amidst the persecution and ridicule from her fellow sisters, who ridiculed her apparent lack of talent in doing the many things which the sisters committed themselves to do at that time. And eventually she discovered what she named as the ‘Little Way’, which is the way of surrendering all to God, and putting all our trust in God, just like that of a child.

In this, St. Therese Lisieux proposed the idea that in order for us to attain salvation, we who are mere men and sinners have great difficulties in our effort and our way to reach the Lord and His salvation. Instead, rather than boasting and fighting our way to become greater and mightier, as what the Apostles had done, she proposed that instead we should become smaller and little, and our Lord and loving Father will raise us up to Himself, just like a father who raises up his children.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, following the examples of St. Therese of Lisieux, through her amazing thoughts and wisdom, and as well as through what our Lord Jesus Christ had taught us Himself, let us all become ever more faithful to our Lord and devote ourselves ever more strongly to Him. Let our faith and our lives be pure and sincere, like that of little children, and cast away all pride, jealousy, hatred, desire and other negativity, the taints of darkness from our hearts.

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May our loving God and Father continue to love us tenderly and provide for us, that all of us His children may come to a greater understanding and appreciation of the love He had shown to us, and may draw ever closer to His merciful and loving heart. God bless us all, forever and ever. Amen.