St. Theresa of Lisieux, Oct 1
Isaiah 66:10-14/ Matthew 18:1-5
God makes a promise to Israel; "You will rejoice.”
***
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
***
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.
***
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.
***
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.
