Faith

 On the 18th of October this year we will celebrate Mission Sunday and spiritually guiding this month is St Theresa of the Child Jesus, patroness of the Missions, also called the little flower, whose feast we celebrate today.

Born on January 2, 1873, in Alencon, France, Therese Martin she was the last of nine children. However, only five of these children lived to reach adulthood. Her mother died of cancer when she was 4 years old. Her parents, Louis and Zelie Martin, were a very holy couple. Each of them had discerned religious life prior to meeting each other. They were canonized on 18 October 2015 and were the first spouses to be proposed for canonization as a couple and the first to be canonized together

Early Childhood – A personal connection with heaven

Therese clearly had a very personal connection with heaven.  At the age of 14, on Christmas Eve in 1886, Therese had a conversion that transformed her life. She overheard her father say that she was getting too old for the silly traditions of children. St. Therese was hurt and crushed at first, but came to realize that it was time for her to mature and be aware of others more than herself. From then on, her powerful energy and sensitive spirit were turned toward love, instead of keeping herself happy. She began to read “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis very intently. She kept this book with her, memorizing much of it.

That same summer, St. Therese heard of a man convicted of murder who was on death row. He was unrepentant, and she was concerned for his soul. She prayed every day that he would have a conversion before facing his death. The man continued to be angry and spiteful, shunning any attempts by priests to hear his confession. He showed no remorse up until just before his death, when it was reported that just as his neck was placed on the guillotine, he grabbed a crucifix and kissed it three times. St. Therese was ecstatic upon hearing this, and took it to mean that her prayers had been answered. She continued to turn her eyes on the needs of others, praying for them and their salvation.

When St. Therese was fifteen, she and her father made a pilgrimage to Rome. Her two older sisters, Pauline and Marie, had entered the Carmelite convent, and St. Therese longed to join the order, too. When meeting the Pope, St. Therese asked him personally for permission to enter the Carmelite order, even though she was too young. He told her that if it was God’s will, she would most certainly enter. Upon returning home, the bishop granted her the permission she needed, and she began her postulancy in 1888. She took the name “Sr. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.”

Captive for Christ

Therese dedicated her life to simple acts for she believed that it was the daily, small tasks that made one holy. This became known as St. Therese’s “Little Way” – that we are called to do ordinary things with extraordinary love. Living a hidden, simple life of prayer, she was gifted with great intimacy with God. Through sickness and dark nights of doubt and fear, she remained faithful to God, rooted in His merciful love. She loved flowers and saw herself as the “little flower of Jesus,” who gave glory to God by just being her beautiful little self among all the other flowers in God’s garden. Because of this beautiful analogy, the title “little flower” remained with St. Therese.

In her Story of a Soul, St.Therese explained how she formed the habit of conquering her moods: “When things that are irritable or disagreeable befall me, instead of assuming an air of sadness, I respond by a smile. At first I was not always successful, but now it is a habit which I am very happy to have acquired.”

While alive, St. Therese made two promises that have been ringing true since her death. The first, “I will spend my heaven doing good on earth”, and the second, “I will let fall from heaven a shower of roses.” This is the way St. Therese often communicates with those who seek her intercession. The “St. Therese Rose Novena” is a common prayer seeking her aid, in which many people have reported God answering their prayers through roses – sometimes physical roses appear, other times the scent of roses.

Down the years the popes have endorsed the message of St Thérèse: Pope Pius X introduced her cause in 1914. In less than 30 years, in April of 1923, Pope Benedict XV declared her Blessed, and in 1925 Pope Pius XI beatified, canonised and declared Therese Patroness of Missionaries and the Missions and spoke of her as the star of his pontificate. Pope Pius XII proclaimed her Patroness of France and at the time of the consecration of the Basilica of St Therese in Lisieux in 1954 remarked that St Therese penetrated to the very heart of the Gospel. Pope Paul VI offered her as a teacher of prayer and theological virtue of hope, and a model of communion with the Church, calling the attention of teachers, educators, pastors and theologians themselves to the study of her doctrine.

On Mission Sunday 19 October 1997 – the year of the hundredth anniversary of her death – St Therese was proclaimed a Doctor of the Universal Church, one of only three females to be named as such (along with St. Catherine of Siena and St. Teresa of Avila)  in recognition of the wisdom of her doctrine of love in the Church, her holiness and the worldwide dissemination of her message through her writings. In less than a century, she had become one of the most popular saints throughout the world.

The Patroness of the Missions

There is one question that must cross our mind. Why did Pope Pius XI decide to proclaim Saint Therese of the Child Jesus the Patron Saint of the Missions? She never went to the missions!

What makes a missionary are not the legs but the heart! A missionary is a person whose heart burns with love for Christ and zeal for souls and therefore answer to the call of Jesus: Go, teach and baptise. A missionary shares Jesus’ mission of rescuing souls from the clutches of Satan. Means might differ: prayer, writing, preaching, penance; the goal and the motive are the same: save souls by love.

Still it might seem to some that she has done so little in her life which even prompted one of the sisters to remark that while she was charming, what would Mother Superior write about her at her death in the report she would make for the community? The question is amusing to us now. For the fame of this young nun would spread beyond the Convent and throughout the Church with remarkable speed. One year after her death, her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, was published. Her devotees multiplied as miracles were worked and favours granted through her intercession. During World War I French pilots carried a photo of her in their aircrafts to protect them.

After a long struggle with tuberculosis, she died on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24. Her last words were the story of her life: “My God, I love You!”

Compiled from various sources

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Art/ Heritage

‘Every mother, when she picks up the young life that has been born to her, looks up to the heavens to thank God for the gift which made the world young again. But here was a mother, a Madonna who did not look up. She looked down to heaven, for this was heaven in her arms.’ – Venerable Fulton Sheen

 The words of the famous Archbishop resound through today’s masterpiece titled ‘The Madonna of the Book’ or ‘The Madonna del Libro’. Although small in size, the pictorial unity of this beautiful composition bridges the human and the divine through a mystery that predominates all of history. Preserved in the Poldi Pezzoli Museum, the painting was executed by the lyrical Botticelli between 1480 and 1483.

Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, known as Sandro Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Born in Florence, he was initially trained to be a goldsmith. However, in his mid-teens, he was smitten by the world of painting. He soon found his niche in a city overflowing with creativity. Leading at the cutting edge of art, the brilliant Botticelli came to be renowned for his delicate yet dramatic paintings.

The intricate philosophy of his art is remarkably rendered in ‘The Madonna of the Book’. We are drawn to its serenity and yet taken aback by the overflowing grace. The Blessed Virgin and Christ Child are presented in a devout domestic setting. Seated by a window in the corner of a room, the Blessed Mother holds, rather prays from the Book of Hours or the Horae Beatae Mariae Virginis, a common thirteenth-century prayer book.

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Faith

An indictment in the temple – 26th Sunday in ordinary time – Matthew 21: 28-32

Jesus has entered Jerusalem (Luke 21:1) and cleanses the temple (21:12). He then makes his way to Bethany for the night (Luke21:17) and the next morning on the way to the temple curses the fig tree as a sign of judgment to the religious leaders of Israel. He enters the temple for the second time only to have the authority behind his actions questioned by the chief priests and the elders. In response he narrates a trilogy of parables called the parables of judgment (21:28-22:14). We are in the first of the three parables of judgment.

When Jesus was asked to explain his authority, he turned the tables confronting the religious leaders of their acceptance to the people-popular message of John the Baptist. The religious establishment would dare not deny the efficaciousness of John’s mission for that would not go down well with the masses. However, to accept his mission would be to accept Jesus as the Messiah, and the Chief priest and elders would rather hang themselves than admit to such a truth. Their response to Jesus’ question is “we do not know.”

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With every passing year, the challenges at the Parel Seminary increased. Besides, Parel too had ceased to be Parel. The once quiet grounds were now a twenty-four-hour rendezvous of all kinds of folks. The area was congested and noisy. Above all, due to the soot and dirt of mills, the situation was dangerously unhealthy. The future seemed bleak.

However even amidst the edging uncertainty, a ray of hope flickered. The appointment of the first Indian Archbishop in 1950 and subsequently the consecration of the first Indian Cardinal in 1952 yielded fortunes for the Bombay Seminary. Valerian Cardinal Gracias was utterly predisposed to shepherd his Seminary into the Promised Land.

A little over a month after receiving his red hat from Pope Pius XII, the Cardinal called for a special meeting of the Diocesan Council on February 26, 1953. The purpose was to discuss and, if possible, to resolve once and for all, the future of the Bombay Seminary.

The meeting was eventful indeed. It included onboard the right persons namely the Treasurer of the Archdiocese, the Jesuit Superior, the Rector of the Seminary, and some leading members of the Staff. The advantages and disadvantages of Parel were meticulously analyzed and it was finally decided that the Seminary needed to move to the suburbs. Andheri was no longer an option and for the benefit of all, this procedure had to take its due time.

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Faith

There must have been a sense of frustration that Jesus experienced. I can almost see myself wanting to give a smack right across the head of some of those apostles. Close on the heels of Jesus’ second passion prediction of his powerlessness before human beings (9:44) and Jesus’ instructions about taking up ones cross and following him (9:23-27) comes this narrative about the disciple’s quest for power. They want to know who will be the greatest amongst them; they jockey for key positions!

How can one be so preoccupied with selfishness in one’s lust for power? It’s like a life that’s slipping out of a human body, the body is still warm as life ebbs away and the relatives are hunting for the will. No wonder they say, where there is a will there are relatives! The irony is that these are the ‘relatives of Jesus’, these were his brothers. He has twice told them that he will be handed over to be killed and all they do is argue and jostle for posts and positions.

We may judge the twelve as much as we want but the truth is that we are but a shadow that pops out of the apostles; for their ambitions are ours.  Over and over again Jesus tries to get his disciples to see that they are called to serve, not to dominate. In the kingdom of God everyone is equal: there are no positions of power, no hierarchy.

Ironically, the titles that define our roles of service have now become titles of honour and power. The Pope is the servant of the servants of the people of God. The word Pontiff really indicates his task as ‘builder of bridges’. The same applies to a Cardinal which really indicates a role as ‘chief or essential.’ In figurative use, it pertains to a ‘hinge’, that on which something turns or depends.

Yet people grasp at greatness. So powerful is the desire to be great, or to own something that provides greatness that people are willing to compromise core values. We grasp at greatness. We desire “likes” on our Facebook page.

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