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Glory and praise to you, God our loving Father in heaven who opens so many ways for us to be with you, to experience heaven while here on earth; Tuesday you showed us the path of martyrdom of St. Lorenzo Ruiz and companions; today, we celebrate your Little Flower, St. Therese of the Child Jesus who taught us her "Little Way" to you with her writings, prayers and short life.
But we all know that whether it is the "big" way of martyrs or the "little way" of St. Therese, it is always one and the same path of Jesus Christ our Lord who is "the way and the truth and the life" (Jn.14:6) that we implore you dear Father through him your Son that we may be gifted with docility and trust in you like that of a child.
Most of all, may our obedience and trust in you dear God be rooted in that love for you which you have sowed ever since in our heart and soul if we could only be humble enough like St. Therese to admit:
“Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love.”
St. Therese of the Child Jesus
O merciful God our Father, in this age of social media where everyone is vying for exposures and shots to prominence, make us realize that life is not a show to perform but a gift to cultivate and nurture in our relationships with you through others; give us the sense of sinfulness to be ashamed of our arrogance and pride before like Baruch and St. Therese:
During the Babylonian captivity, the exiles prayed, “Justice is with the Lord, our God; and we today are flushed with shame, we men of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem… We have neither heeded the voice of the Lord, our God, nor followed the precepts which the Lord set before us… but each one of us went off after the devices of our own wicked hearts, served other gods, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, our God.”
Baruch 1:15, 18, 22
May this pandemic period be a purifying process for us, O God, that in the midst of sufferings and hardships like St. Therese we rediscover and realize your loving presence in Christ Jesus. Amen.
