Gospel Reflection

October 01, 2012

Monday
St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin, Doctor of the Church (Memorial)

by Rev. Fr. Prudencio 'Jun' T. Solomon (Rector and Parish Priest)

(Archdiocesan Shrine of the Our Lady of Loreto Parish, Sampaloc Manila)
Guest Priest, Lunch Mass at EDSA Shrine, Our Lady of Peace Quasi-Parish

Reading 1 Jb 1:6-22

One day, when the angels of God came to present themselves before the LORD, Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence do you come?" Then Satan answered the LORD and said, "From roaming the earth and patrolling it." And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?" But Satan answered the LORD and said, "Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing? Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock are spread over the land. But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has, and surely he will blaspheme you to your face." And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand upon his person." So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

And so one day, while his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were ploughing and the asses grazing beside them, and the Sabeans carried them off in a raid.

They put the herdsmen to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Lightning has fallen from heaven and struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three columns, seized the camels, carried them off, and put those tending them to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." While he was yet speaking, another came and said, "Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, when suddenly a great wind came across the desert and smote the four corners of the house. It fell upon the young people and they are dead;

and I alone have escaped to tell you." Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said,

"Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back again. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!" In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 17:1bcd, 2-3, 6-7

R. (6) Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

Hear, O LORD, a just suit;

attend to my outcry;

hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.

R. Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

From you let my judgment come;

your eyes behold what is right.

Though you test my heart, searching it in the night,

though you try me with fire, you shall find no malice in me.

R. Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;

incline your ear to me; hear my word.

Show your wondrous mercies,

O savior of those who flee

from their foes to refuge at your right hand.

R. Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

Gospel Lk 9:46-50

An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, "Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest."

Then John said in reply, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company." Jesus said to him, "Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."

HOMILY

"Guro, nakakita po kami ng isang taong nagpapalayas ng demonyo sa iyong pangalan, at pinagbawalan namin siya." Sumagot si Hesus, "Huwag nyo siyang pagbawalan, sapagkat ang hindi laban sa atin, ay panig sa atin".

Mga ginigiliw kong kapatid, ito ang isa sa mga tukso sa mga taong naglilingkod o tumutulong, o kaya naman ay madalas na tumutungtong at dumadalo sa isang simbahan o sa isang bahay dalanginan. Sometimes, people tend to perceive themselves as having a monopoly of God, of having the monopoly of His grace. Katulad ng ibang mga alagad ni Hesus, ang akala nila, sila lamang dapat ang may saklaw kay Hesus at sa kanyang kapangyarihan. Pero ang Diyos kailanman ay hindi saklaw ng iisang tao. Ang Diyos kailanman ay hindi saklaw ng iilang grupo. God can never be limited to a few. Kailanman, ang Diyos ay hindi masasaklaw ng iilang tao.

Mga ginigiliw kong mga kapatid, kung titingnan po natin sa tuwing tayo'y dumadalo ng mga pagdiriwang sa loob ng simbahan, ang tagapagdiwang ang bumabati sa inyo "Sumainyo ang Panginoon." At ano ang ating tugon? "At sumainyo rin." Ang mga katagang ito ay nagpapa-alaala sa atin, na anuman ang ating tinanggap, ay dapat ibahagi. At si Hesus ay kasama sa ating tinatanggap. Ang kanyang mga Salita ay kasama sa ating tinatanggap. Ang kanyang katauhan, ang ating pagkakilala, lalong lalo na ang ating pananampalataya sa Kanya, ay ating tinatanggap bilang handog ng Diyos sa atin.

Everything that you have received from God is not meant to be kept, but to be shared. What we have received is not ours to keep, but it is ours to freely give to others. Nawa ang mga katagang 'yon, kapag naririnig natin "Sumainyo ang Panginoon", "At sumainyo rin", sana ay patuloy na ipaalala sa atin na ang lahat ng bagay, kabilang na ang Diyos na ating tinatanggap sa ating buhay, ay dapat ibahagi sa iba.

Ibahagi ninyo si Hesus sa inyong kaibigan. Ibahagi ninyo si Hesus sa inyong mga kapamilya, kakilala, kasambahay, maging kapitbahay. Ipaalala ninyo at ibahagi ninyo si Hesus sa iba. We do not have the monopoly of God. We do not have the monopoly of His grace. Everything that we have received must be given freely, including Jesus, to others.

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus – Pray for us

You may also want to see: A Holy Life - St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus

A Holy Life

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus

Carmelite – Virgin, Doctor of the Church

Feast day – October 01

Few Saints have aroused so much admiration and enthusiasm immediately after their death; few have acquired a more astonishing popularity everywhere on earth; few have been so rapidly raised to the altars as was this holy young Carmelite. Marie Françoise Thérèse Martin, known as the Little Flower of Jesus, was born January 2, 1873 at Alençon in Normandy, France, of very Christian parents. The Martins, who lost four of their little ones in early infancy or childhood, regarded their children as gifts from heaven and offered them to God before their birth. Thérèse was the last flower of this blessed stem, which gave four Sisters to the Carmel of Lisieux, still another to the Visitation of Caen. The five sisters were left without their mother, a victim of cancer, when Thérèse was only four years old; but her two oldest sisters were of an age to take excellent care of the household and continue the Christian character formation of the younger ones, which their mother had initiated. Their saintly father was soon to see his little flock separated, however, when one after the other they left to enter religious life. He blessed each one and gave them all back to God, with humble gratitude to God for having chosen his daughters.

From childhood Thérèse had manifested a tender piety which her naturally lively temperament could not alter. Her mother's death affected her profoundly, however, and at the age of nine she was visited with a severe trial in the form of an illness the doctors could not diagnose, and which seemed incurable. She was instantly restored to her ordinary good health by the Virgin Mary, in answer to her desolate sisters' prayers; Thérèse saw Her statue become animated, to smile at her with an ineffable tenderness as she lay on her bed of suffering.

Before the age of fifteen Thérèse already desired to enter the Carmel of Lisieux, where her two eldest sisters were already nuns; a trip to Rome and a petition at the knees of the Holy Father Leo XIII gave her the inalterable answer that her Superiors would regulate the matter. Many prayers finally obtained an affirmative reply to her ardent request, and four months after her fifteenth birthday she entered Carmel with an ineffable joy. She could say then, I no longer have any desire but to love Jesus even to folly.

She adopted flowers as the symbol of her love for her Divine Spouse and offered all her little daily sacrifices and works as rose petals at the feet of Jesus. Divine Providence gave to the world the autobiography of this true Saint, whose little way of spiritual childhood was described in her own words in her Story of a Soul. She could not offer God the macerations of the great soldiers of God, only her desires to love Him as they had loved Him, and to serve Him in every way possible, not only as a cloistered nun, but as a missionary, a priest, a hero of the faith, a martyr. She chose all in spirit, for her beloved Lord. Later she would be named patroness of missions. Her spirituality does not imply only sweetness and light, however; this loving child of God passed by a tunnel of desolate spiritual darkness, yet never ceased to smile at Him, wanting to serve Him, if it were possible, without His even knowing it.

When nine years had passed in the Carmel, the little flower was ready to be plucked for heaven; and in a slow agony of consumption, Thérèse made her final offering to God. She suffered so severely that she said she would never have believed it possible, and could only explain it by her desire to save souls for God. She died in 1897, was beatified in 1923 and canonized in 1925. And now, as she foretold, she is spending her heaven in doing good upon earth. Countless miracles have been attributed to her intercession.

 

Sources for this article were taken from: Lives of the Saints http://magnificat.ca

 

Prayer

O glorious Saint Therese, whom Almighty God has raised up to aid and counsel mankind, I implore your Miraculous Intercession.
So powerful are you in obtaining every need of body and soul our Holy Mother Church proclaims you a "Prodigy of Miracles...the Greatest Saint of Modern Times." Now I fervently beseech you to answer my petition (mention specifics here) and to carry out your promises of spending Heaven doing good upon the earth...of letting fall from Heaven a Shower of Roses.
Henceforth, dear Little Flower, I will fulfill your plea "to be made known everywhere" and I will never cease to lead others to Jesus through you.

Amen.

St. Therese, the Little Flower, please pick me a rose from the heavenly garden and send it to me with a message of love; ask God to grant me the favor I thee implore and tell Him I will love Him each day more and more.

Amen.

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus – Pray for us