In preparation for our parish pilgrimage, let us look at St. Therese’s mission: her mission from Jesus, her mission at the Convent and her mission in Heaven.
St. Therese’s Mission at the Carmelite Convent:
In order to be also a missionary, Thérèse felt called to the Carmelite Convent to follow in the footsteps of her “Mother”, Saint Theresa of Avila, through the gift of her life and through prayer which goes beyond all boundaries. Like her Spanish Mother, “she wished to give one thousand lives in order to save one soul”.
When she entered the Carmelite Convent, she declared:
“I have come to save souls and above all to pray for priests.”
“To love Jesus and to make him loved” became more and more the goal of her entire life.
She was delighted when she was granted two spiritual brothers whom she was to help in their ministry by prayer and sacrifice:
Father Maurice Bellière, a seminarian aged 21 years, asked for the help of a Carmelite Sister to sustain him in his vocation. He was ordained a White Father and departed for Nyassaland (Malawi today). He returned to France and was admitted to the Bon Sauveur Hospital at Caen where he died in 1907 at the age of 33 years. Thérèse helped him a lot through her correspondence. She wrote him 11 important letters.
Father Adolphe Roulland of the Paris Foreign Missions, left for Su-Tchuen in China, from where he also corresponded with Thérèse. Before leaving, he had celebrated a First Mass at the Carmelite Convent in Lisieux and had a conversation with his “sister”. She wrote him six letters. He died in France in 1934.
Both priests helped Thérèse to widen her horizons of the world. Even though she was sick, “she saw herself as a missionary”.
Her “infinite desires” which caused her to suffer during prayer, pushed her to want to: travel over the whole earth … to preach the gospel on all five continents simultaneously and even to the remotest isles … I would be a missionary, not for a few years only but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages … (Ms B, 3r)
Like Therese, we don’t need to do big things to be doing God’s work. Look at the works of mercy, both spiritual and corporal. How do we live out each of these mercies, even indirectly? Perhaps I can’t visit the imprisoned directly, but can I write letters of support? Can I provide financial assistance to particular inmates or programs? Can I support volunteers who bring the Gospel to the inmates? Perhaps I can’t bury the dead directly, but can I assist physically or financially in the upkeep of cemeteries? Can I promote full teaching on the dignity of the human body even after death?
Therese was physically ill yet see what she accomplished! Consider your personal connection with Jesus and how that connects YOU to the world. What is your role while here on earth?
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