The relics of St THÉRÈSEin our diocese

There has been much expectation and talk about the Relics of St. Thérèse. The people of the country have come out in surprising numbers. They found a way of expressing their devotion and awakening their faith.

A little Saint, Thérèse by name, has reminded them that what is holy is not complicated or extraordinary. It is as simple as a child that loves and trusts its father. St. Thérèse reminds us all that God is our Father, that we are his children, that we can be absolutely sure of his love and care and mercy.

We know that we should lead good, even holy lives. “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48), Jesus tells us. But how is that possible? St. Thérèse shows that it does not demand anything extraordinary. What we do need is simply love, which enables us to do the ordinary things of the day with fidelity. Our daily life is made up of little things. If we do them all well, for love of God, we are on the way to holiness of life and to happiness in heaven.

Three things St. Thérèse would ask us to do: three things that are more important than ever in our modern world.

The first is to trust in God’s goodness and mercy. We are tempted at times to lose heart. The troubles and disappointments of life give us a feeling of hopeless resignation. Yet the Saints, and St. Thérèse in particular, urge us never to lose confidence in God’s love for us. The more He wants to give us, the more He inspires us to ask for graces and favours. He has used little Thérèse in a special way to distribute his gifts of healing and protection. Millions of people have received heavenly favours through her intercession. Her whole life was a hymn of praise to God’s mercy. She regarded the writing of her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, as a proclamation of divine mercy: in the very first paragraph she states she would simply “be doing only one thing: I shall begin to sing what I must sing eternally: the Mercies of the Lord.” Later on she offered herself as a victim, not to God’s justice, but to his merciful love. Her ‘little way’ of spiritual childhood, she said, “is the way of trust and absolute self-surrender.” The greatest manifestation of God’s loving mercy is the Crucifix: He loved us and pitied us so much that He sent his only Son to save us on Calvary. Therefore, Thérèse tells us that her way is all love and confidence. “I do not understand souls who are afraid of so tender a friend. We can never have too much confidence in the good God. He is so mighty and merciful”.

Secondly, St. Thérèse asks us to love God sincerely. “It is trust, and nothing but trust that must bring us to love. Jesus wants to give us his Heaven as a free gift.” She herself did not depend on great deeds or extraordinary penances in order to be saved. She said she would appear before God ‘with empty hands’. Love is what she depended on. She knew that at the end of her life she would go to Someone who loved her.

Love was her vocation, in the heart of the Church. By doing everything for love of God, in order to give Him pleasure and joy, she was able to perform many small sacrifices. She called them ‘little nothings’ - but they came from the heart and they touched the heart of God. They obtained grace to help many souls, to convert sinners and to strengthen missionaries in foreign lands.

Yes, St. Thérèse wanted ‘to love God, to be loved by Him and to make many people love Him.’ She continues that mission even today. She has promised to spend her heaven ‘doing good on earth’, teaching us to love God and to follow her ‘little way’.

Finally, St. Thérèse asks us to have faith, to believe in God even when faith is difficult. Some people nowadays are torn by doubts; other say they don’t or cannot know whether there is a God; others even say that after death there is nothing more. St. Thérèse, too, in the final year and a half of her life went through a horrible trial of faith. “Jesus made me feel that there were really souls who have no faith... He permitted my soul to be invaded by the thickest darkness... The thought of heaven, up until then so sweet to me, became a torment.” It was as if thick clouds, or a high wall blocked the road to heaven. She however continued to make acts of faith in God whom she believed to exist ‘beyond the clouds’. She merited the grace of faith for many people who have no faith or who are tempted to doubt and despair.

Trust, love and faith in God’s goodness and mercy are precious favours which St. Thérèse can obtain for us by her prayers.

We venerate the Relics of a Saint because they raise our mind to the life of a holy person who was chosen by God and served Him faithfully. We treat the remains of every baptized person with respect because they were anointed by chrism and formed a temple of God on earth. The Relics of St. Thérèse have nothing magical in themselves. But they do call us to pray, to convert our lives to God, to imitate in our ‘little way’ the boundless confidence, the living faith and the generous love which she practised in her life.

The Relics are not at all as important as the Sacraments, but the visit of the Relics of St. Thérèse will urge many people to go to the Sacraments: to make a good personal Confession, to go to Mass and receive the Lord worthily in Holy Communion.

I invite all of you to visit the Relics at one of the venues (the Cathedral; Falcarragh; Bruckless), to avail of the occasion to go to Confession and to Mass. In this way, St. Thérèse will continue to do good on earth, to send down ‘a shower of roses’, to turn many hearts to God and help us to love God as she did.

G Prayer to St. Thérèse G

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus,

teach us to follow your way

of confidence and trust.

Help us to realise that

a Father’s love watches over us

each day of our lives.

Obtain for us the light to see,

in sorrow as in joy,

in trials as in peace,

the loving hand of our Father.

Give us your own faith and trust,

so that we may walk in darkness,

as in the light, holding fast

to the way of love,

knowing as you did,

that everything is a grace.

Amen.