O Jesus, my Love…my vocation, at last I found it… my vocation is Love!
These are
words that were written by St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, lovingly known as
the Little Flower. Today the Church celebrates her feast day.
She was born
in Alencon, France, in 1873 to devout parents, Marie-Azelie Guerin and Louis
Martin. While still young, she received permission to enter the local
cloistered Carmelite Convent. While there she struggled a great deal with how
she should respond to God’s Call to be the type of Christian that God wanted
her to be. One Call she felt was to be a missionary, but as a Cloistered Nun,
that was not possible. So, she prayed and reflected upon scripture in order to
better understand her Call to follow Jesus Christ in the convent.
While meditating upon the 12th and 13th chapters of St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, she came across the line from St. Paul saying, “…there are three things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:13 Therese’s response to this was, “O Jesus, my Love…my vocation, at last I have found it…my vocation is Love!”
Theresa
realized that she didn’t need to be a missionary, a martyr, or even a priest to
respond to God’s call in her life. God was calling her to the vocation of Love.
In other words, she was responding to the command of Jesus to love God with her
whole heart, soul, and being, and to love her neighbor as herself. Therese
realized that in her daily routine in the convent of the Daily Prayers and
Mass, she was called to respond to God with love for Him and for all those she
was called to pray for.
We, like St.
Theresa, are all called to that same vocation of Love. Whether we’re married or
single, parent or child, we all have the same Christian vocation: that of Love.
We are to love God, and to love those people God has placed into our lives: our
spouses, our children, and our families. It’s not always easy to love those in
our families when we may be facing problems or issues with them, but our
vocation is to respond to them with the Love that God has for each one of us.
As we spend
time during the day reflecting on Scripture, praying at Mass, and doing our
daily devotions of praying the rosary and any of the other devotions we do, let
us ask God for this grace to have this love of Him and our neighbor. God will
be there for us to help us to respond to this call of Love.
Also, if you
ever get a chance, I highly recommend you read “The Story of a Soul” by St.
Theresa. This beautiful book will help us to know more about who she was and
how she responded to God’s call of Love. St. Theresa of the Child Jesus,
pray for us.
Beautiful reflection on St. Therese, my Mom's favorite saint & role model, one of my favorite saints & my Confirmation patron saint.
ReplyDeleteYES, St.Therese found her vocation as LOVE in 1 Corinthians 13 & sought to live St. Paul's definition of LOVE in 1 Corinthians 13 every day of her life in everything she said and did & with everyone she encountered.
An important aspect of her life & message was that even the smallest, seemingly insignificant act, such as picking up a pin, can be offered to GOD as an act of love.
One of the ways St. Therese showed love was in exercising patience with an elderly nun who sat behind her in the chapel & rattled her rosary beads, which broke St. Therese's concentration in prayer & made her feel nervous & irritated. To endure the irritating habits of people around us patiently & without complaining is an act of love toward that person & an offering of love to GOD.
St. Therese called her method of striving toward holiness her "little way" that every human being in every state of life can follow, trusting in GOD & His love & mercy & offering even the most ordinary things we do as an act of love to GOD & others. Her "little way" has inspired millions of people, including St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who summarized her "little way" in words such as "I cannot do great things, only small things with great love."