10/1/2012 – Monday of 27th week in ordinary time – St Therese – Luke 9:46-50

        The disciples were arguing amongst themselves who was the greatest, Jesus lifted up a child to them as an example, telling the disciples that if they received this child in his name, then they were receiving him.  A child would have been seen as the least in society in Ancient Israel.   Jesus is telling us that we need to approach God from a stance of humility and vulnerability, not from power and might.

         I think that many have toned down the radical message Jesus gives us in his Gospel.  In a world where power, wealth, and celebrity are admired above everything else, where reality TV stars command more attention and adulation than those who work for the good of society, Jesus’ message of lifting up a child to the disciples is radical and shocking indeed.  The saint we celebrate today is one of the most admired saints in our modern world – Therese of the Little Flower.  Therese died of tuberculosis at the age of 24, having lived as a cloistered Carmelite nun for less than 10 years.  Pope John Paul II named Therese as a Doctor of the Church, even though her only published work was her edited autobiography entitled The Story of a Soul.  And even though she never left her cloister as a nun, John Paul II named her as the patron saint of the missions for her great missionary zeal and her love of bringing the Word of God to all.  I remember asking some of the prisoners whom I minister to in the prisons the names of their favorite saints, and most of them gave me the name of Therese.  I was at first perplexed how they could relate to this cloistered nun, but a friend of mine at St Richard parish remarked that the prisoners perhaps see themselves as being in a cloister during their incarceration, and thus very much relate to the life which Therese led. 

         I also think that many of us can relate to her “little way”, in which she sees us being able to lift up the acts and deeds that we perform during the course of our daily lives to the glory of God.  Therese’s way is not a complicated theology which is difficult to comprehend, but rather something that all of us can relate to and comprehend. 

         May we pray today that we can approach God with the heart of a child.  And may we pray for the intercessions of St Therese, to be able to lift up all we do in life as a celebration in our faith in the Lord.  I also want to pray especially for the men whom I minister to in the prisons – at the Yazoo County Regional Correctional Facility, at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl, at the Yazoo City Federal Correctional Complex, and at the South Mississippi Correctional Institution in Leakesville.  My heart goes out to these men and their families.  May they feel the prayers and intercessions of Therese and the rest of the community of saints helping them and guiding them during this difficult stage of their journey.