"FEAST OF ST. THERESE OF CHILD JESUS VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH PATRONESS OF MISSIONS"

   1^st ,October 2022:

SATURDAY,  TWENTY SIXTH WEEK 

OF ORDINARY TIME (C)

( Isa 66: 10-14); (1 Cor 13: 4-13)

 (Mt 18: 1-4)

"FEAST OF ST. THERESE OF CHILD JESUS

VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

PATRONESS OF MISSIONS"

St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as St. Therese of Lisieux, is the great saint and patroness of missions. Today, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we gather to hear the words of the Lord and to celebrate her feast as a whole Church. On this day, we were reminded by Scripture to entrust ourselves to the Lord, to follow Him with all of our hearts and might, to be like little children in our faith, pure, sincere, and genuine in our desire to love God and walk in His path, unhindered by the numerous temptations of the world that frequently surround us.

In today's first reading, the Lord told the prophet Isaiah that He would restore peace, glory, and happiness to Jerusalem, to His people, and to His nation. He also said that they would no longer have to suffer or be in pain because the Lord would be by their side and they would be His people. This was said in light of how difficult the situation was for God's people at the time of the mission of the prophet Isaiah. God wanted His people to remain steadfastly faithful to Him and to entrust themselves to Him, and He urged them to turn away from their sinful ways of the past.

As a result of their own sins and disobedience as they allowed themselves to be swayed by their desires and attachments to the world, many of the people of God had been exiled from their own lands back then. The Assyrians, a powerful empire that came and conquered the lands of Israel and destroyed the cities and towns of Israel, humiliating and crushing them, had exiled those who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel, which consisted primarily of the ten tribes that rose in rebellion against the House of David. All of this happened as a result of the Israelites' failure to heed God's constant pleas for them to turn away from their sinful ways. Many of God's prophets, servants, and messengers had been sent to urge them to repent, but they ignored them and even persecuted those prophets.

The people of God in the southern kingdom of Judah, where the prophet Isaiah preached, had also occasionally strayed into sinful paths and not always been faithful to God. They had defied the Lord and not always listened to what He said. They were also threatened by the Assyrians' growing might back then, and they have also suffered at the hands of their neighbors and foes. But the Lord reassured them and said that if they put their faith in Him, they really didn't have to worry about anything. The people who had been faithful to God would see the glory of Jerusalem and His kingdom restored to them, and they would once more be glad to be in His presence.

The people had not been faithful and had repeatedly fallen into sin because they were too attached to worldly concerns, desires, and other things that bound them to the path of sin and disobedience to God. They were all too preoccupied with their numerous attachments to worldly matters to attend to God, and they ignored His calls because they were all too busy and preoccupied in seeking additional worldly things, such as wealth and glory, fame and status, and many other life pleasures. They continued to drift further and further away from God and His righteous way as a result of all of these factors.

In light of this, we ought to heed what the Lord Jesus Himself had told His disciples in today's Gospel: that unless we follow the Lord in the same way that the young children followed Him, none of us can enter God's kingdom. As previously mentioned, the disciples were competing with one another and arguing that each had greater merits and worth to be the ones trusted by the Lord and to be a part of His inner circle at that time. They were also arguing about who among them was the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. But by doing that, they basically made themselves available to Satan and the other evil spirits, who have always been out to get us.

Because we allowed ourselves to be swayed by the temptations and allures of worldly pleasures, happiness, and satisfactions, the desire for money and material wealth, for pleasures of the flesh and the comfort of the world, and indulging in our many desires and wants in this world, in various forms, that was how we humans frequently fell into sin. The devil and all of his wicked allies were constantly attempting to snatch us from the way to God and His grace and salvation through these events. Additionally, if we do not make conscious efforts to resist sinful temptations, we run the risk of falling further and further down the path of sin.

St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as St. Therese of Lisieux, is one of our holy predecessors whose feast we celebrate today, as mentioned earlier at the beginning of today's discourse. Because of this, brothers and sisters in Christ, we should pay attention to the life and example set by her. This holy servant of God was also known as the "Little Flower of Carmel." She was remembered for her intense devotion to God, her faith, and her holy life. She was also remembered for spreading her "Little Way," which was the main reason she was remembered and honored. Her life and contributions continue to have a huge impact and are still easily felt today.

St. Therese of Lisieux was a Discalced Carmelite nun who had a strong devotion to the Lord since she was a young girl. At the age of fifteen, she was inspired to join the religious order. She was raised in a family that was extremely religious and devoted, and both of her parents went on to become saints. All of the children of St. Louis Martin and St. Marie-Azelie Guerin, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, became religious and dedicated their lives to God, including St. Therese of Lisieux herself. These parents inspired their children to live lives of virtue and devotion to God. Additionally, St. Therese found refuge in God after the death of her mother in her life.

St. Therese of Lisieux remained steadfast in her devotion to God and her desire to be a religious who was completely devoted to God throughout her life, despite her ill health. From an early age, St. Therese also began to have visions and other mystical experiences. St. Therese was well-known for her night of "complete conversion," in which she had a profound mystical vision and felt God's liberating and reassuring presence, solidifying her desire to follow Him. St. Therese eventually joined the Discalced Carmelite monastery after some consideration and arrangements.

She was remembered for her constant concern for other people and her prayers for sinners, such as for Henri Pranzini, a convicted murderer for whom she prayed daily for his conversion before he was scheduled to be executed. She was also remembered for her great sanctity and her adherence to the "Little Way" that is now known as St. Therese. This "Little Way" entails committing ourselves to God even in the tiniest and most insignificant actions we can take throughout each day and every moment of our lives. According to St. Therese, these seemingly insignificant, insignificant moments gradually build our approach to God's eternal kingdom.

St. Therese of Lisieux's faith and dedication should serve as a reminder to all of us that as Christians, we are obligated to reach out to others and be genuine witnesses of our Christian faith and truth. By the simplest things we do in life, we are all called, in fact, challenged, to do whatever we can to glorify God, to proclaim His holy name, His truth, and His love to the world. We don't have to think big and ambitious things because many people who try to do big things fail. Not only that, but many of them did it for the wrong reasons, like serving their own self-importance and vanity, their own desires, and ambitions rather than serving God and serving His people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all keep in mind that as Christians, we all have this significant obligation to contribute in any way we can to the missions and areas that have been assigned to us as well as to our own day-to-day lives and activities. We are all, in fact, missionaries, and we need to realize that mission can be as simple as proclaiming the Lord by leading exemplary and virtuous lives. Because of this, St. Therese of Lisieux is the Patroness of Missions. She aims to dispel the myth that missions can only be carried out in far-off lands or through significant efforts on the part of missionaries; in reality, missions take place in every moment of our lives.

In light of St. Therese of Lisieux and the countless other saints and holy men and women of God, let us all strive to proclaim the Lord as His missionaries of faith, hope, and charity, and let us strive to always be virtuous and worthy in our words, deeds, and actions—even in the smallest things. Let us all make an effort to be holy and an example to others, living a life that is very Christian every day to the best of our abilities. St. Therese of Lisieux, patroness of the Child Jesus, may always pray for us and intercede on our behalf as sinners, and may the Lord continue to bless us and give us strength to succeed in our endeavors. Amen.