'Love at the heart of the Church'

On this feast day of St Therese of Lisieux, I will not attempt the impossible task of saying anything new about her.  Suffice it to say that the lightning spread of her fame across the world after her death at a young age in 1897 in a convent in the depths of Normandy is itself a kind of miracle.  It is fair to say that she has become one of the best-loved saints in the history of the Church – up there with the likes of St Peter and St Paul and St Francis and St Teresa.  She is absolutely adored by so many people.  Why is that?  Surely because of the magnetic beauty of her character, since in her lifetime she did not preach or teach or found or lead a community or suffer martyrdom, as so many beloved saints did.  In this we can all aspire to imitate her, in the pursuit of a spiritual growth and a closeness to God such that it will infuse our souls with a similar beauty.  Therese had a burning desire to achieve great things out there as so many great saints have done, but she as an enclosed Carmelite nun concluded that the most important vocation of all is love – and that is within the grasp of us all, whatever our station in life.  ‘Focus all your effort on learning to be a loving person’ is the gist of her message, ‘but the way to do it is to let go of every bit of pride and surrender your will to His. Then He can give you the gift of love.’

Intercessions:

Chris, in intensive care but showing signs of improvement

B, diagnosed with brain cancer in his fifties, and his wife A, a faithful Catholic

I, a young mother in recovery from drastic surgery for cancer.