20251001 BE LIVING STONES MOTIVATED BY LOVE
01 October 2025, Wednesday, St Thérèse of the Child Jesus
First reading | Isaiah 66:10-14 |
Towards Jerusalem I send flowing peace, like a river
Rejoice, Jerusalem,
be glad for her, all you who love her!
Rejoice, rejoice for her,
all you who mourned her!
That you may be suckled, filled,
from her consoling breast,
that you may savour with delight
her glorious breasts.
For thus says the Lord:
Now towards her I send flowing
peace, like a river,
and like a stream in spate
the glory of the nations.
At her breast will her nurslings be carried
and fondled in her lap.
Like a son comforted by his mother
will I comfort you.
And by Jerusalem you will be comforted.
At the sight your heart will rejoice,
and your bones flourish like the grass.
To his servants the Lord will reveal his hand.
Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 130(131) |
Keep my soul in peace before you, O Lord.
O Lord, my heart is not proud
nor haughty my eyes.
I have not gone after things too great
nor marvels beyond me.
Keep my soul in peace before you, O Lord.
Truly I have set my soul
in silence and peace.
A weaned child on its mother’s breast,
even so is my soul.
Keep my soul in peace before you, O Lord.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
both now and forever.
Keep my soul in peace before you, O Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | Mt11:25 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Blessed are you, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth,
for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
to mere children.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 18:1-5 |
Unless you become like little children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven
The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.’
BE LIVING STONES MOTIVATED BY LOVE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Isa 66:10-14; Ps 131; 1 Cor 13:4-13; Matt 18:1-5]
Today, we celebrate the Feast of St. Thérèse. The first reading reminds us of the Church as our mother. Indeed, in the first reading, God, addressing Israel through the prophet, said, “Rejoice Jerusalem, Rejoice, rejoice for her, all you who mourned her! That you may be suckled, filled, from her consoling breast, that you may savour with delight her glorious breast. For thus says the Lord: Now towards her I send flowing peace, like a river, and like a stream in spate the glory of the nations. At her breast will her nurslings be carried and fondled in her lap. Like a son comforted by his mother will I comfort you. (And by Jerusalem you will be comforted) At the sight your heart will rejoice, and your bones flourish like the grass. To his servants the Lord will reveal his hand.”
The Church is called mother because she gives birth to new children and members. This is why the Church is described in the feminine. She continues to nurture her children through the Sacraments, through the preaching of the Word of God, and especially of the Eucharist. Through the Church, members are supported not only by her ministers but also by their fellowship with one another. Together as Church, we grow in grace and Christian maturity. As St Paul wrote, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Eph 4:11-13)
Consequently, the Church is more than just a building for worship or a sign of God’s presence in society. It is the members themselves who make up the Church, as St Peter says, “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Pt 2:5) We are all called to be living stones. The Church comes alive not because of buildings. In fact, many of the most beautiful churches and basilicas in Rome and Europe have become dead stones because many have lost their Christian Faith. Hence, we must not only maintain the physical Church but also hand on the faith to the younger generation and do what we can to help build up the Church. We must be living stones, with our faith founded on Christ, so that we may remain strong in faith and express it through charity and service.
How can St. Thérèse help us understand how the Church is our mother and how we are to become living stones? St. Thérèse, the patroness of missionaries, had a deep love for the Church as her mother. From her, we can learn how to live out our faith and help build up the Church of Christ. To be living stones does not mean that we must be priests, religious, theologians, or experts in the faith. What is required of us is a childlike faith in Christ, as St. Thérèse taught.
St. Thérèse is known as the Little Flower and is called St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Her approach to God was the way of childlikeness, which the Gospel speaks about. The Lord said: “I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” She shows us how to live our faith in the childlikeness that Christ taught. Being childlike in faith requires trust in our relationship with God and simple surrender to the Gospel. We are called to adopt the attitude of the psalmist: “O Lord, my heart is not proud nor haughty my eyes. I have not gone after things too great nor marvels beyond me. Truly I have set my soul in silence and peace. A weaned child on its mother’s breast, even so is my soul. O Israel, hope in the Lord both now and forever.”
Though St. Thérèse never studied at a university, she was declared a “Doctor of the Church” because of her profound understanding of faith. She showed that one can grow in holiness by doing ordinary things in extraordinary ways. By accepting all that comes our way–whether convenience or suffering–and offering it for the love of Christ, we grow in sanctity. How different this is from today’s spirituality, which often focuses on self-fulfilment and personal gratification. For St. Thérèse, holiness comes from resigning oneself to the situation, bringing goodness out of it, especially when change is not possible. This was evident in her monastery life, where she had to live with difficult or eccentric sisters. She bore their idiosyncrasies with patience and offered her sufferings for the love of Christ, the conversion of sinners, and the fruitfulness of missionaries in the world. Love, she believed, overcomes all things. As St. Paul wrote: “Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.”
The secret of St. Thérèse is that whatever she did, she did out of love. Like St. Paul, it was love that motivated her to do all things for Christ. Indeed, the heart of her spirituality and her understanding of the Church can be summed up in one word: love. She said: “In the heart of the Church, I will be love.” In today’s second reading, taken from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, St. Thérèse found her vocation. She wrote: “Since my longing for martyrdom was powerful and unsettling, I turned to the epistles of St. Paul in the hope of finally finding an answer. By chance, the 12th and 13th chapters of the 1st epistle to the Corinthians caught my attention, and in the first section I read that not everyone can be an apostle, prophet or teacher, that the Church is composed of a variety of members, and that the eye cannot be the hand. Even with such an answer revealed before me, I was not satisfied and did not find peace.” This was because she could not recognize herself in any of the members of the mystical body described by St. Paul.
But she found peace when she read what St Paul wrote, “Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.” This is where today’s second reading from St Paul gives us the key to true fulfilment in life, namely, to understand that the greatest gift is love. “The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known. In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.” Hence, St. Thérèse realized, “Love appeared to me to be the hinge for my vocation. Indeed, I knew that the Church had a body composed of various members, but in this body the necessary and more noble member was not lacking; I knew that the Church had a heart and that such a heart appeared to be aflame with love. I knew that one love drove the members of the Church to action, that if this love were extinguished, the apostles would have proclaimed the Gospel no longer, the martyrs would have shed their blood no more. I saw and realised that love sets off the bounds of all vocations, that love is everything, that this same love embraces every time and every place. In one word, that love is everlasting.”
Let us too learn from St Thérèse, who discovered that there is only one vocation: love. When we love, we will serve humbly. Religious leaders and laity alike must learn to love and serve in this way if the Church is to be a sign of love and welcome–not only for Catholics but also for all humanity, who seek forgiveness, understanding, compassion, and encouragement. May we be inspired by St Thérèse’s simplicity in being a missionary for Christ, simply through childlike faith and inclusive, compassionate love. Each one must give what he or she can to the building up of the Church and of the community, but let us do it with love, not under compulsion or obligation. With St. Thérèse, we can then say: “O Jesus, my love, at last I have found my calling: my call is love. Certainly, I have found my place in the Church, and you gave me that very place, my God. In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and thus I will be all things, as my desire finds its direction.”
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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