August 9 2023 - St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross - Turn toward the Eternal

Today we celebrate Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.  She was born—Edith Stein— the 11th child of a large family of orthodox jews in Germany in 1891.  Her life came to an end 50 years later in a gas chamber at Auschwitz.  By then she was a Carmelite nun who had converted to Catholicism.  Though the Jews were the principal victims of the Nazi’s in World War II, millions of Catholics, including bishops, priests, and nuns were murdered in the concentration camps.  

While attending university, young the young jewish girl, Edith Stein began to develop a strong interest in Catholic belief and thinkers. After reading the autobiography of St. Theresa of Avila, she asked to be baptized.

10 years later she imitated Theresa of Avila by entering the Carmelite convent and took the name Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.  It was 1933, Adolf Hitler was Chancellor of Germany.

For 9 years, Sister Teresa cultivated holiness through the beautiful Carmelite way of life. She wrote, “In order to be an image of God, the spirit must turn to what is eternal, hold it in spirit, keep it in memory, and by loving it, embrace it in the will.”

As a young philosophy student her "turn to the eternal" led her deeply into the heart of God. So many of our young people and our contemporaries could learn from her. Instead of living for earthly things that will pass away, we must like her turn toward the eternal, love it, and embrace it. 

Her turn toward the eternal led her to the Carmelite Order. But for each of us who turn toward the eternal, and pursue it with seriousness, we will find the fulfillment God wants for us, and the fulfillment of our purpose.

But that means learning to saying no to the temporal, to detach from the earthly, to fast from the nonessentials in order to pursue what is most essential. “In order to be an image of God, the spirit must turn to what is eternal, hold it in spirit, keep it in memory, and by loving it, embrace it in the will.”

In 1942, the Nazi’s arrested Sister Teresa.  She and her sister Rosa, also a Catholic, were transported to Auschwitz in Poland by boxcar.  One week later, Sister Teresa died in a gas chamber.

Those who seek happiness in life only by pursuing their own interests will never be fulfilled. Only by seeking God, the Eternal One, giving one’s self to God will we experience the lasting fulfillment God wants for us, only by embracing the cross will we find salvation, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For all those who wander in atheism, agnosticism, those who are cynical towards Catholicism, for moral relativists, and those who reject the Faith and all lapsed Catholics: may the Holy Spirit will help them discover the Truth of Christ. 

That the Holy Father, the Bishops and all Clergy and Religious will be shining examples of fidelity to the Truth.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering.

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

O God, who 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.