Homily of Cardinal Semeraro for the closing of the Jubilee of the birth and beatification of Saint Thérèse

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THERESE OF LISIEUX, PILGRIM OF HOPE

Today, dear brothers and sisters, we celebrate the mystery of the Epiphany of the Lord. On this day, as the Liturgy prays, with the help of the star, the Lord revealed his Son to all nations. The arrival of the Magi, who came from the East to offer their gifts to Jesus, is the announcement of this opposite movement that the Risen One indicated to his disciples, who, like the Magi, had prostrated themselves to adore him (cf . Mt 2,11; 28,17). He said to them, “Go, make disciples of all nations. » (v.19). The Magi came from the ends of the earth to worship the new king of the Jews and, opening their caskets, they offered him their mystical gifts. The disciples, on the contrary, will be sent to the limits of the world to bring to all the gift of new life and the announcement of a close God. “And behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” {Mt 28,20). This is, in a way, the mystery and the ministry of grace experienced by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. She dedicated her entire life to growing ever closer to Jesus, but she saw it transform into an increasingly vast mission, reaching to the ends of the earth.

Although the three figures of the Magi never appear in Thérèse's writings, there is something in her story that resembles theirs. She was still a child and already the stars fascinated her: “I loved the stars without number,” she wrote in Cèline's song (PN 18, 27). She also recounts that, walking with her Dad in the evening when she was a child… “I looked at the stars which twinkled gently and this view delighted me… There was especially a group of golden pearls which I noticed with joy finding that it had the shape of a T ... I showed it to Dad by telling him that my name was written in Heaven…” {Ms. A, l7v).

“Your names are written in heaven” {Lc 10,20): this declaration of Jesus, which little Thérèse applies to herself, is the root of joy and Christian confidence. Indeed, God loved us so much that he wrote the name of each of us in the book of life. Saint Ambrose said that “the heavens are like a great open book so that God can write there the names of those who, with faith and devotion, have merited the grace of Christ and for whom it is said: “Rejoice, for your names are written in the sky. Thérèse is aware of this from the beginning and remains in this certainty, as Francis wrote in his apostolic exhortation This is confidence: “In the name she chose as a nun, appears Jesus the “Child” who manifests the mystery of the Incarnation, and the “Holy Face”, that is to say the face of Christ who gives himself until at the end on the Cross. She is “Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face”. The Name of Jesus is continually “breathed” by Thérèse as an act of love, until her last breath…” (nn. 7-8).

When, looking at the stars, Thérèse affirms that her name is written in the sky, she is still a child and we could apply to her the words with which Saint Gregory the Great comments on the story of the star, which guides first the Magi then shows them the place of the meeting with Jesus. “It is therefore not – he said – the child who runs towards the star, but it is she who goes towards Him”. Gregory intended to refute the theory according to which man's destiny is determined by the stars and therefore added:

“Man was not created for the stars, but the stars were created for man.”2

It is therefore Jesus who indicates the meaning of this star: God loves you! Thérèse understands this meaning and matures it throughout her life, thus — as Pope Francis still writes — “Thérèse has the lively certainty that Jesus loved her and knew her personally in his Passion: “He 'loved and gave himself up for me' {Gal 2,20). Contemplating Jesus in his agony, she said to him: “You live me”. Likewise, she said to the Child Jesus in the arms of his Mother: “With your little hand which caressed Mary, You supported the world and You gave it life. And you were thinking of me. Thus, always at the beginning of the History of a soul, she contemplates the love of Jesus for everyone, as if it were unique in the world.

An ancient etymology derives the word “desire” from stargazing {desidera), so much so that even Saint Leo the Great preached that, observing the sign of its fiery radiance and following the star, the three Magi come to the child Jesus and, fulfilling their desire, “worship in the flesh the Word, in in childhood wisdom, in weakness power and in the truth of humanity the Lord of majesty. In order to manifest the sacrament of their faith and their intelligence, they pay homage with gifts to the one in whom they believe in their hearts. Even Thérèse, who saw her name written in the heavens, was not only filled with desires, but also nourished the certainty that her desires coincided with those of God. “Ah! The Lord is so good to me that it is impossible for me to fear Him, He has always given me what I desired or rather He made me desire what He wanted to give me,” we read. among his faiths {Ms. C, 30v).

You might think of a selfish little girl, but it's really the opposite. Her desire was to be a leafless rose (cf. PN 51). In addition, Thérèse wishes to throw flowers (cf. PN 34). It is the maturation of her spiritual life, which Francis describes thus in his apostolic exhortation: “The transformation which occurred in her allowed her to pass from a fervent desire for Heaven to an ardent and continuous desire for the good of all, culminating in the dream of continuing in Heaven his mission of loving Jesus and making him loved. In this sense, she wrote in one of her last letters: “I intend not to remain inactive in Heaven, my desire is to still work for the Church and souls”. And at this same period, she said more directly: “My Heaven will take place on earth until the end of the world. Yes, I want to spend my Heaven doing good on earth” (n. 43).

One of the symbolisms dear to Thérèse was that of removing leaves from flowers. As a child, she loved doing it during processions. She even envisages a veritable rain of flowers, which rises first towards the sky, then from there is thrown onto the earth: onto purgatory whose flames she must extinguish, she says, and then onto the whole Church for the sake of sustain. In Thérèse’s reflection, the double thirst that devours her is central: “the desire for love which is in the heart of Jesus, and that of saving souls. This double thirst will dominate her entire existence as a Carmelite. Thérèse is unshakeably convinced that Jesus wants us to help him in his work of salvation, to be saviors with him.”

The page of yellow notebook quoted in the apostolic exhortation concludes as follows: “I cannot make a feast of enjoyment, I do not want to rest as long as there are souls to save…”. At Christmas, a little more than two years before, in front of Jesus' nativity scene, Thérèse had seen among the angels the one of Judgment, ready to punish and strike sinners. The voice of Jesus, however, said to him: “lower your sword / It is not for you to judge / The nature that I raise / And that I wanted to redeem /. The one who will judge the world / It is me, who is called Jesus! / From my blood the fruitful dew / Will purify all my elect.” Now having arrived near death, she sees another angel, who says to her:

"Time is up!". Then she cries: “I will rest, I will be able to enjoy, so that the number of the elect is complete and that all enter into joy and rest. My heart trembles at this thought...".

Dear brothers and sisters, with this Holy Mass the jubilee year of the 50th anniversary of the birth of Saint Thérèse and the 100th anniversary of her beatification concludes; thus ends the jubilee dedicated to a saint whom Saint Pius X called “the greatest of modern times”. In a year - we know - another Jubilee will begin, this time for the whole Church. Pope Francis announced it by also indicating the motto: Pilgrims of hope. In this context, we can certainly meditate again on our Thérèse, who was a woman of hope.

It is also his most current message at a time of great suffering for the Church and for all humanity.” We will add that Thérèse’s message is a message of hope for all. She herself tells us about this radical turning point in her life; when, in fact, she understood not only that her name was written in heaven, but also that “in Heaven there will be more joy for a single sinner who does penance than for 99 righteous people who do not need penance! …” {Ms. A, 46r: cf. Lc 15,7). Thérèse was thinking of the story of the criminal Pranzini, whom she called my first child.

At Christmas 1886, Thérèse obtained the grace to leave childhood behind and become a fisher of souls (cf. Ms A, 45v). Through his intercession, may this also happen for each of us, during the feast of the meeting of the Magi with the Lord Jesus.

Sainte-Thérèse Sanctuary — Lisieux, January 7, 2024

Marcello Card. SEMERARO