October 1 2025 (school mass) - St. Therese of Lisieux - The Little Way and the Mission of the Church

 The month of October begins with the feast day of a beloved saint of the Church, St. Therese.

Therese was born and raised in a profoundly religious home—where the Catholic faith was devoutly practiced and cherished. Therese’s parents, Louis and Zellie have also been declared saints due to the evidence of their profound holiness. All four of Therese’s older sisters became nuns. And from a young age, Therese also had a burning desire become a nun as well—to dedicate her life to prayer in the Carmelite Convent. 

And so at the age of fourteen, Therese traveled with her father to Rome to meet the Pope, to personally ask his permission for Therese to enter the Carmelite convent in the city of Lisieux. And it was granted.

The Carmelite convent that Therese entered had a very strict rule of life. The nuns lived a hidden life of prayer, silence, and sacrifice. the sisters ate simple meals, they wore a plain habit, like St. Clare is wearing in her statue. The nuns did not interact with people from the outside world, not even with members of their family, and they were not allowed to leave the convent grounds. Even their conversations were limited, because silence helped them to listen more closely to God’s voice.

Their days were carefully ordered, beginning very early in the morning with prayer, Mass, and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. They prayed the Liturgy of the Hours together several times each day, lifting up the needs of the whole Church. When they weren’t in the chapel, they worked quietly at simple tasks like cooking, sewing, cleaning, and gardening.

But St. Thérèse didn’t see this way of life as gloomy or depressing. Therese and her sisters chose a simple, quiet life, in order to focus their minds and hearts on Jesus, and to do a very important work for the Church—praying. While we are engaged in working for Jesus and spreading the Gospel out in the world, Therese and Carmelites like her pray for us—that we can be faithful and have the strength and wisdom we need for our duties.

Therese prayed for the success of the mission of the Church—to go to all nations and make disciples of Jesus. That’s the mission of the Church. That’s why I’m here. That’s why Corpus Christi Academy exists. That why St. Clare parish exists. That’s why the diocese of Cleveland exists. We have a mission. To help people know, love, and follow Jesus Christ to the best of their ability.

This is why St. Therese took up this very strict way of life. Because she believed in the mission of the Church, and wanted to do everything she could to support it—which included praying many hours a day, fasting, doing penance, and doing small sacrificial things with great love. 

And this is another reason why St. Therese is so beloved by Catholics. She reminds us that often, the most powerful thing we can do for the mission of the Church—is to do small things with great love. Our conversations, teaching in the class room, learning in the class room, how you behave, how you treat people in the lunch room, on the playground, on the sports field, at work, the stranger, the person who annoys you, in everything we do, we are to pour into it, the love of God. May St. Therese help us to do all things with great love for the mission of the Church for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

October 1 2024 - St. Therese of the Child Jesus - Humble service, penance, mission

 In her diary, St. Therese wrote: “I ask Jesus to draw me into the flames of his love and to unite me so closely to him that he lives and acts in me.  I feel that the more the fire of love encompasses my heart, the more I shall say: "Draw me," and the more will those souls who are near to mine "run swiftly in the sweet odor of the Beloved."  

And draw her into the flames of his love, the Lord did. In the course of her short life, Therese acquired a burning love of Christ. And yet, unlike some of the other mystic saints, Therese did not experience mystical levitations or visions, that we know of. 

Rather, she was drawn into profound love through humble acts of service and the quiet, patient acceptance of suffering. 

At the age of 15, having received the blessing of faith and virtue from her parents, Therese was given permission to enter the Carmelite convent where her two older sisters had already entered.  She lived only 11 years as a Carmelite nun before dying at the young age of 26 from tuberculosis.  

And yet during that time, she developed a profound spirituality of humble service—known popularly now as “The Little Way”

In those short years in Carmel, Therese described coming to share the Lord’s deep ardor for the salvation of souls. She writes, “I experienced a great desire to work for the conversion of sinners, a desire I hadn’t experienced so intensely before.” She offered her life as a sacrifice for priests and other missionaries, offering constant penances and prayers for the sake of others. She wrote that her mission as a Carmelite, was to offer prayers and penances that would spiritually form and support  “evangelical workers who would save millions of souls”.

There are three pretty good lessons for all of us, no? To seek the sanctification of our souls through humble acts of service, patient acceptance of suffering, and doing whatever we can for the mission of the Gospel. By doing so, we, like Therese, have the opportunity to be drawn deeply in the fire of Christ’s heart, in his love, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

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For blessings upon the members of the Carmelite Order, and that their witness of prayer and penance may continue to draw souls closer to Christ.

During this month of October, dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary, Catholics may take up this devotion with renewed vigor and trust in Our Lady’s never-failing intercession. 

That the sick and the suffering may know God’s healing and know the love of God in their trials.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.

30th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Tuesday - Mustard Seeds of Charity

Yesterday, in the Gospel we heard of the healing of a crippled woman in a synagogue. There was a woman who had been inflicted with a crippling spirit for 18 years, and the Lord delivers her from this spirit, and she is able to stand and glorify God.

After dealing with a bit of criticism from the pharisees for performing this healing on the sabbath, the Lord immediately offers the two parables we heard today, that of the mustard seed and the yeast.

The healing miracle serves as a sort of spark for today's teaching about the kingdom of God. And it may be a bit confusing how the these two short little parables and the miraculous healing are connected. But it’s really not that hard. The kingdom of God starts out small, almost undetectable, like a mustard seed, a bit of yeast, or the healing of poor afflicted woman. 

An act of kindness, an act of goodness, an act of charity appears so small and insignificant, but it can transform the world. 

This is why Catholics must take acts of mercy, acts of charity seriously. Because this is how God wants to spread his kingdom, through small acts with great love, as st. therese the little flower would say, whom we celebrated at the beginning of the month.

We must not discount or underestimate the power, the seed, of giving a coat to a shivering stranger, a hot meal, a listening ear. This is why Pope Francis is constantly urging us to get out of our houses and out into the world to engage in the works of mercy. Couch potatoes do nothing for God. But the Christian who is quietly trying to bring relief to the suffering, the sick, and the lonely, they are transforming the world, souls are being touched, the consoling and blessing hand of God is being extended…for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That the faithful of our parish may engage ever more fervently in small acts of charity with great love for God and neighbor.

That young people will be blessed with good Christian example from their parents and fellow Christians, and that the word of God might be cherished, studied, and practiced in every Christian home. 

During and following this month of October, dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary, Catholics may take up this devotion with renewed vigor and trust in Our Lady’s never-failing intercession. 

For the healing of all those afflicted with physical, mental, emotional illness, for those in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care, those struggling with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for deceased clergy and religious, for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

27th Week in Ordinary Time 2021 - Tuesday - The problem with anxious worrying

 

October began with the feast of the Little Flower, St. Therese. St. Therese teaches us that power of doing little things with great love—doing the ordinary, day-to-day chores and responsibility mindful of God’s presence with us, embracing the little inconveniences with greater and greater patience.

In the little, ordinary events of the day, there are opportunities to grow in grace and focus on God, but that means there is also the temptation to turn away from him. If you can become a saint through these small events, why aren’t we all saints?

So often, it is our anxious thoughts and our impatience which keep us from knowing the peace of God.  Proverbs says, “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down”, it causes us to sink from grace to bitterness. Anxious worry about what other people are doing, minding other people’s business instead of focusing on your own can cause us to miss out on grace.

Like Martha in the Gospel today, who misses the whole point of Jesus’ visit, we miss out on opportunities to grow in grace because we are consumed with anxious busyness. You can imagine Martha cursing Mary the whole time she was doing her chores, “why is she just sitting there, doesn’t she know how much work there is to do?”

Ruminating in self-pity, “why am I the one stuck doing this?” certainly doesn’t bespeak of the prayerfulness that is to accompany our work. Perhaps, Martha’s complaining was even a sign that what she really wanted was to control her sister, and was using housework as an opportunity to manipulate or dominate. Nagging, after all, can be a form of subtle domination. Or, what kind of old resentments was Martha carrying around with her, that she could not imagine that her sister Mary could be doing something good?

Martha’s grumbling sure doesn’t lead us to believe that she was doing these small things with great love. Rather, we do well to begin our work prayerfully offering it to God, seeking to glorify God even by the way we do our work—with peace, humility, perhaps even cheerfulness.

The Lord responds to Martha: “you are anxious and worried about many things.” Psalm 139 says that God searches us and knows our hearts, he tests us and knows our anxious thoughts. And Jesus shows himself to be keenly aware that Martha was not doing her work with peace in her heart. Jesus in this Gospel isn’t condemning housework, but he is certainly teaching that we must let go of our anxieties, worrying what everybody else is doing all the time, if it keeps us from being at peace.

May we relinquish our anxious attitudes or domineering behaviors, and focus in our work and throughout the day on the Lord's Holy Will for our lives, for the glory of God and salvation of souls. 

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That hearing the call to repentance preached by the Church, all men may turn away from their sins to the mercy of Christ.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

That our young people may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the evils of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For all whose lives are marked by suffering, may they come to know the healing and peace of Christ.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

October 1 2021 - St. Therese, the Little Flower - Whoever humbles himself like this child...

 The month of October begins with the celebration of the feast of the Little Flower, St. Therese of Liseaux. “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven” we hear in our Gospel.

Therese is certainly one of the little ones loved by the Lord, held up for all of us to emulate.

Therese was blessed to be raised in a home where the practice of the faith was practiced and cherished. In the deeply religious atmosphere of her home, her piety developed early and intensively. All four of her elder sisters became nuns, and at the tender age of fourteen, Therese traveled to Rome with her father to request, at the knees of Leo XIII, permission to enter the Carmelite convent of LeMans.

Some might say, 14 is too young of an age to commit oneself to a life of poverty, prayer, and penance. But here is the enthusiasm of a child rushing into the arms of Jesus that we are all called to emulate.

Her life of simple holiness became known to the world, mostly due to her autobiography, "Story of the Soul" which the little, humble one wrote only out of obedience to her religious superior. But in it, we find detailed a powerful spirituality of love and service.

She writes: I ask Jesus to draw me into the flames of his love and to unite me so closely to him that he lives and acts in me.  I feel that the more the fire of love encompasses my heart, the more I shall say: "Draw me," and the more will those souls who are near to mine "run swiftly in the sweet odor of the Beloved."  Yes, they will run and we shall run together, for souls on fire cannot stay still

How does one develop this pure childlike love for the Lord and for souls? Well, like a child, we have to start small.  Therese wrote, “I applied myself above all to practice quite hidden little acts of virtue; thus I liked to fold the mantles forgotten by the Sisters, and sought a thousand opportunities of rendering them service.”

The Lord gives us many opportunities, every day, to practice this way of child-like love. May we humble ourselves like the child, Therese, in so many daily acts of love, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For blessings upon the members of the Carmelite Order, and that their witness of prayer and penance may continue to draw souls closer to Christ.

During this month of October, dedicated to the Most Holy Rosary, Catholics may take up this devotion with renewed vigor and trust in Our Lady’s never-failing intercession. 

That the sick and the suffering may know God’s healing and know the love of God in their trials.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.

October 31 2017 - All Hallow's Eve

It is All Hallow’s Eve—the vigil of the Feast of the Hallowed Ones, the Saints—the Church’s answer to the festivals of the ancient pagans who believed that about halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, the veil between the living and the dead was thinned and the spirits could walk freely in our world.  It is not hard to understand why they thought this: with the changing of the seasons, it looks like nature is dying, and the creepy images flickering in the shadows of autumn bonfires.

The pagans would wear costumes to disguise themselves and even frighten off the spirits. But, the souls we prepare to celebrate on All Saints’ Day tomorrow, of course, are not spirits of mischief, spirits that we flee from, but rather, we flee too. We look to their example and seek their prayers.

The saints are like the mustard seeds and the leaven Jesus describes in our Gospel parables today. They are often small, ordinary people who transform a culture from the inside like yeast within dough. The tiny yeast slowly, imperceptibly, yet effectively causes a massive amount of dough to rise. Similarly, the saints. They touch lives with their goodness. They build up the Church around them. They are active agents of the grace of God.

I think particularly of the Saint whom we began the month of October celebrating: the Little Flower, St. Therese of Lisieux. She led a radically hidden, small life. This obscure little nun from the corner of France is now honored as a doctor of the Church and the Patron Saint of Missionary Work.  Her spirituality, her teaching, permeates Catholic Christianity, helping ordinary Catholics to realize that they too can grow in holiness by doing small things with great love.

Sometimes we can become discouraged by the slow progress of the kingdom of God, the slow working of grace in our world and our family. So we continue to look to the Saints, to show us how ordinary people can bring about extraordinary goodness, when surrendered to the grace of God.
Small acts of kindness and compassion do matter in the eyes of God, and do have a tremendous power to transform hearts and families and nations. As we prepare for the great Feast of the Saints, may we be aided by their examples and prayers in making God’s grace and mercy visible in the ordinary circumstances of our lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

That our young people may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the godlessness of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For the healing of all those afflicted with physical, mental, emotional illness, for those in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice care, those struggling with addictions, for those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for deceased clergy and religious, for those who have fought and died for our freedom, we pray to the Lord.

Heavenly Father, hear our prayers. May the grace of Christ Your Son, the Divine Physician, bring healing of our sinfulness, and make us worthy of the kingdom of heaven, through the same Christ our Lord.

Tuesday - 27th Week of OT 2017 - Anxiety keeps us from encountering Christ

October began with the feast of the Little Flower, St. Therese. St. Therese teaches us that power of doing little things with great love—doing the ordinary, day-to-day chores and responsibility mindful of God’s presence with us, embracing the little inconveniences with greater and greater patience.
In the little, ordinary events of the day, there are opportunities to grow in grace and focus on God, but that means there is also the temptation to turn away from him. If you can become a saint through these small events, why aren’t we all saints?

So often, it is our anxious thoughts and our impatience which keep us from knowing the peace of God. Like Martha in the Gospel today, who misses the whole point of Jesus’ visit, we miss out on opportunities to grow in grace because we are consumed with the spirit of busyness, worldliness. You just know that Martha was cursing Mary the whole time she was doing her chores, “why is she just sitting there, doesn’t she know how much work there is to do?”

Psalm 139 says that God searches us and knows our hearts, he tests us and knows our anxious thoughts. And Jesus shows himself to be keenly aware that Martha was not doing her work with peace in her heart. Jesus in this Gospel isn’t condemning housework, but he is certainly teaching that we must let go of our anxieties, worrying what everybody else is doing all the time, if it keeps us from being at peace.

Proverbs says, “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down”, it causes us to sink from grace to bitterness.

Yesterday, we heard how Jonah was anxious and worried about how he would be treated by the Ninevites, to whom God was calling him to preach repentance. His anxiety and fear had disastrous results, storms, shipwreck, lives were put in danger because he anxiously resisted God’s will.

But today, we get the second part of the story: Jonah surrenders to the plan of God in his life, he preaches repentance, and he witnesses one of the most dramatic responses to the call to repentance in the entire old testament: a city of about 120,000 people all come to repent—the nobility, the peasantry, show signs of their repentance by fasting, covering themselves with sackcloth, and sitting in ashes.

Amazing things happen when we relinquish our fears and anxieties and trust in God. Jonah was no doubt able to rejoice with the words of Psalm 94: “When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.”

May we relinquish our misguided thoughts and anxious attitudes, and surrender and trust in the Lord’s Holy Will for our lives for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That hearing the call to repentance preached by the Church, all men may turn away from their sins to the mercy of Christ.

That world leaders may look upon the Son of God, believe in him, and seek the peace and justice that only he can bring.

That our young people may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the evils of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.

For all whose lives are marked by suffering, may they come to know the healing and peace of Christ.
For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

26th Sunday in OT 2017 - The Little Way and Hidden Humble Acts of Love

On September 30th, 1897, a young Carmelite nun living in France succumbed to the effects of tuberculosis, dying in obscurity, known only to her religious sisters.

Upon their deaths, most people, particularly obscure Carmelite nuns, remain in obscurity, their lives fade into the hidden folds of history. Yet this particular Carmelite, Therese, has proven quite different. Within years of her death, her spiritual autobiography began to be read widely. Miracles attributed to her intercession began to be reported. In just a few decades after her death, the image of Thérèse of Lisieux would be immediately recognizable in the Catholic world. Canonization would soon follow. And at the hundred-year anniversary of her death, Pope St. John Paul II declared her to be a Doctor of the Church, a title given to only a privileged few of the Church’s saints, establishing Thérèse as one of the Church’s great authorities in regards to the meaning and purpose of the Christian spiritual life.

At the heart of Thérèse’s spirituality is the principle that holiness can be discovered not only in the performance of mighty deeds, but in a willing surrender to the purposes of God in the seemingly ordinary experiences of life. St. Therese the Little Flower taught that most of us are not called to do great things, but we can become holy by doing small things with great love.  She called this “the little way”—doing small things with great love.

In her autobiography, St. Therese wrote, “I applied myself above all to practice quiet hidden little acts of virtue; thus I liked to fold the mantles forgotten by the Sisters, and sought a thousand opportunities of rendering them service.” I think many spouses and parents already practice these thousands of hidden little acts of service for their families. These thousands of little acts are likely noticed by no one but God. But because they are noticed by God they are powerful, and infuse the world with his love.

The little way of St. Therese is the way of humility encouraged by our Lord. St. Paul speaks about the need for each of us to practice the humility of Jesus in our second reading. “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also for those of others. Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus’ own humility is most evidently seen in his embrace of the cross: the God of the universe becoming a slave, taking upon himself mockery, torture, humiliation, and suffering in order to restore humanity to grace.

You see why the world sees us Christians as so strange?  We hold up this image of this crucified slave and say that’s what God looks like, this is what love looks like, this is the meaning of life. And you too can become the person you are meant to be, by embracing this way of life, by taking suffering and hardship upon yourself for the sake of others, without complaint. Doing the laundry, cooking the meals, caring for a sick child or spouse, laboring diligently at one’s job: these things can be roads to spiritual growth, when we do them humbly and out of love.

In the Gospel, Jesus praises, not the son who makes empty promises to the Father, not the one who gives lip service, who claims to be the good son. Jesus praises the son, who actually goes and does the Father’s will.

The Christian faith is not a matter of lip-service, we do not get to heaven by simply telling people we are Christian, but by actually practicing this stuff, by subjugating the mind, the heart, the will, the bank-account, the leisure time to the will of God.  Real faith requires real action.

St. Therese, whose feast day is on October 1, reminds us that holiness is certainly within the reach of ordinary, simple people. God smiles upon those small acts of love, which puts the needs of other before our own, and through those acts of charity, God can enflame our hearts with a burning love and heavenly joy that nothing else in the world can provide.

This week, perform one act of charity per day, without expecting adulation or praise, a hidden act, that only God sees, or perhaps one chore per day without having to be asked.

May each of us be attentive to the little acts of service which God calls us to perform humbly, without notice, without any other reason other than it is good, a blessing for another. Through the life of charity, may God transform us into the people he made us to be, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.