We might know already about how St. Therese of Lisieux understand mission in her “little way” but let me write her another side of mission understanding. A small flower, that’s what she called herself and I completely agree with that. She was truly a small flower which picturized someone who is so small, so young, so weak with her sickness yet so beautiful, spreading good fragrant of love for everyone around her. Inside that small and weak body of her, she kept huge amount of love for God and His mission.
Born with real name Marie Francoise Therese Martin, she grew up in a holy family. Both of her parent, Louis Martin and Zelie Guerin were a very pious people. Both of them once aspired to the cloister but rejected, met each other later and got married.[1] Zelie had a prayer that all her daughters and herself will become saints.[2] Later, their piety and big love for each other and for their family truly become a light that was followed by their five daughters especially Therese. Since young, she learned how to give everything to God. She learned it from her father who always give job for Therese to give the alms to the poor while they were walking, picking strawberries.[3]
What is mission for this little saint who never went to a “mission land”? Once she prayed: “… one mission alone would not be sufficient for me, I would want to preach the Gospel on all the five continents simultaneously and even to the most remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years only but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages. But above all, O my Beloved Savior, I would shed my blood for You even to the very last drop.”[4] This part of her letter shows us how she understood mission in close related to martyrdom. She understood martyrdom as how Xaverian’s understanding of our mission which is ad gentes, ad extra and ad vitam without boundaries.
Her mission is to love God more than anything without limitation. Later, near her death, she spoke that even after she died, she will work for her love to God and for souls: “I can’t think very much about the happiness of heaven; only one expectation makes my heart beat, and it is the love I shall receive and I shall be able to give. And I think of all the good I would like to do after my death: have little children baptized, help priests, missionaries, the whole Church. But first console my little sisters.”[5] Not even death could limit her mission and her love.
Our mission, to love without measure is really not an easy thing. As human, we are tempted to think about our limit. We live in space and time that seems can be measured. At least, that’s what we used to think. In reality, until now, no one is ever succeeded to find the limit of our space and time. But still, we are bound by the thing these hands can reach and these eyes can see. We limit our mission to this physical limit. From Therese of Lisieux we learn, that even death is not a limit for our mission, for our love. There is no physical nor mental nor spiritual things that could limit her love.
Therefore, we also need to learn to gradually and slowly pass our limitations. Our love should not be bound by what our abilities and capabilities, not by any measurement of time and space, and not even by death. We should try not to reason and justify our inability to do mission by saying: I am sick, I don’t have hands or legs, I don’t have money, I don’t have time, I don’t have experienced, I don’t have any talent, I haven’t ordained yet, my superior haven’t given me my mission yet, I am too young or I am too old. All of these things are just tools or means for our mission purposes.
With Jesus, let us pray together “My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!” With this prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane, I want to say that it is still needed to consider all of these tools, but we should never give up even if we don’t have it. Our parents would never give up to raise us up whatever the case, eventhough they might not have enough money or food. We should focus our vision more on them who needs us, on the souls that St. Therese Lisieux always look at. If we can’t fly, run. If we can’t run, walk. If we can’t walk, use wheelchair. If we can’t do anything, pray. We pray then, through the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux, so our Father in Heaven give us love and blessing to continue to do our mission, to love without measurement.
Bibliography:
Chalon, Jean. Thérèse of Lisieux: A Life of Love. Translated by Anne Collier Rehill. Quezon: Claretian Publications, 1998.
Thérèse of Lisieux. The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Translated by John Clarke. Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1976.
O'Donnell, Christopher. Love in the Heart of the Church: The Mission of Therese of Lisieux. Dublin: Veritas Publications, 1997.
[1] Jean Chalon, Therese of Liseux: A Life of Love, translated by Anne Collier Rehill (Quezon: Claretian Publications, 1998), 1-3.
[2] Chalon, Therese of Liseux: A Life of Love, 18.
[3] Chalon, Therese of Liseux: A Life of Love, 22-23.
[4] Thérèse of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, translated by John Clarke (Washington, DC: ICS Publications, 1976), 192-193.
[5] Christopher O’Donnell OCarm, Love in the Heart of the Church, (Dublin: Veritas Publications, 1997), 136.
