A reading of the Holy Gospel according to Lk 10:13-16
Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
REFLECTION
Whoever listens to you listens to me.
St Thérèse of Lisieux led a very charmed life, loved by all her sisters and her parents. She was stubborn, had a love of virtue but was very proud as a child. She was surrounded by love and God had given her a warm and sensitive heart to respond to this love. Unfortunately, ahe lost her mother when she was 4 years and eight months old.
For ten years since her mother’s death she struggled with tantrums, crying a lot and being very sensitive. But one Christmas Eve her emotional outbursts came to an end. And just like that she became a better person. Her prayers were answered.
She was aware of the many graces God had given her and many times wondered, why her and not someone else? She wondered why God had preferences, why He did not give the same degree of grace to everyone. She was surprised that He poured out so much grace on such great sinners like St Paul, St Augustine and so many others, as if He was forcing His grace on them. He treated many privileged souls with the greatest tenderness from cradle to grave. But so many souls died without ever knowing the Lord.
The good Lord chose to show her the mystery of nature. For every flower He created had a beauty of its own and the splendor of the rose and lily's whiteness did not deprive the violet of its scent nor make less ravishing the daisy's charm. So it was this way in the world of souls, the garden of the Lord's creation. God created great saints, comparing them to the roses and the lilies. And yet he created little ones, content with the daisies and violets nestling at His feet for the delight of His eyes. God's love shined as much through a little soul as the greatest soul.
Saint Thérèse also had good deed beads as a way of keeping track of her sacrifices. Every time she performed a good deed she would move the bead toward the other end.
In 1888 at the age of 15 she entered the cloistered Carmelites along with two of her older sisters. Another sister joined them later. All four of her sisters became nuns. Her parents Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin, were canonized on October 18, 2015.
Known as St. Therese, the Little Flower, she died at the age of 24 of tuberculosis.
She was canonized 26 years after she died.
(The Story of a Soul: Autobiography of the Little Flower)
God Bless You
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