26th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Readings:
Ezekiel 18:25-28
Philippians 2:1-11
Matthew 21:28-32
Reflection
God allows us to be little- Today is the feast day of one of the youngest doctors of the church St Therese of the Child Jesus. Born in 1873 in Alencon France and entering into the Carmelite monastery at the young age of 15, St Therese of Lisieux had a profound humble but devout love of God. St Therese, as recorded in her autobiography “Story of a Soul” had a Little Way of spiritual childhood, a way of trust and absolute surrender.
Her life, by worldly standards, was not much, dying only at the young age of 24 and yet she is one of the most beloved modern-day saints within her ordinary way of achieving great holiness in the smallest actions of love. A strong theme in today’s reading is that of humility, not only in Ezekiel and Matthew, where the chief priests are told that tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before them because of their humility. But also St Paul’s sermon on Christ’s model of humility, the one equal with God humbled himself to the point of death on a cross St Therese knew she could be safe in the arms of her father with a childlike faith. That we don’t have to carry it all ourselves, that we can be small and humble children and it’s this that pleases the father most
Claire O’Donohue is a current Oxley Passionist Youth Retreat Team member. While also in her final year of university, she is completing her bachelor’s degree with a major in visual art and theology.