Parish of the Divine Infant—Orleans, ON
Anticipated Fourth Sunday in
Ordinary Time (Year “C”)—January 30, 2016
LOVE
AND GOD’S UNIVERSAL MISSION
Texts: Jeremiah 1.4–5, 17–19
[Psalm 71]; 1 Corinthians 12.31–13.13; Luke 4.21–30]
Fifteen years ago, Canadian
dioceses hosted a visit of the reliquary of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, “the Little
Flower.” In preparation, I began reading about her spirituality of the “little
way.” I have continued ever since.
In her convent, Thérèse dreamed of
travelling the world (she had wanted to go to the new Carmel in Vietnam),
preaching the word of God, and, like the Doctors of the Church, enlightening
souls with their understanding of the gospel. She wanted to be a priest. She
believed God would not have inspired such passions in her without wanting to
fulfil them.
She sought a resolution by reading
Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. She found solace in his teaching that,
just like a human body, the Church is composed of many different members (last
Sunday’s epistle reading). However, she remained unsatisfied until she came to
today’s passage on love, what Paul calls “a still more excellent way.”
There, she discovered what she was
looking for. “I finally had rest,” she declared. “Considering the mystical body of
the Church, I had not recognized myself in any of the members described by St. Paul;
or rather I desired to see myself in all of them. Love gave me the key to my
vocation... In the heart of the Church, my Mother, I shall be LOVE.... Thus I
shall be everything, and thus my dream will be realized.”
Now declared a Doctor of the
Church, Thérèse shows in her teaching how the most ordinary human existence can
express extraordinary holiness. She invites us to follow her path of ‘spiritual
childhood’, reflecting an attitude of unlimited hope in God’s merciful love. Though
she never left her convent, the Church has named her co-patron, with St.
Francis Xavier, of missionary activity.
Thérèse wanted to engage herself
on the path of salvation. This desire also was deep in the heart of the founder
of the Society of the Divine Saviour, Salvatorian priests and brothers. The
“Salvatorian Family” also includes the Congregation of the Sisters of the
Divine Saviour and the Lay Salvatorians (the International Community of the
Divine Savior). The Society was founded 135 years ago by the Venerable Francis
Mary of the Cross Jordan in Rome on December 8, 1881.
In keeping with the spiritual
vision of Father Jordan, the Salvatorians are ready to spread the Gospel in any
place, “by all ways and means.” Their members serve as pastors, catechists and
teachers, home and foreign missionaries, authors, musicians, counsellors,
spiritual directors, and workers in many other areas of ministry. Their goal is
to proclaim salvation to all people, that all may know “the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17.3).
While the Salvatorians have been
in the United States since their founding, they came to Canada, largely on the
West Coast, only in the last quarter century. I was pleased to welcome them to
Halifax while I was archbishop there. I am happy they came to Ottawa three
years ago, in part to encourage devotion to the Divine Mercy, a key element in
this year’s Jubilee of Mercy called for by Pope Francis.
God’s compassionate love prompts a
mission of mercy to the nations in the founders of religious communities, as it
did in the prophetic vocations of Jeremiah and Jesus. This we see in today’s
other scriptures.
Jeremiah’s call was a difficult
one. He was rejected by his own people, thereby becoming a “prophet to the
nations.” Still, he learned to trust God’s Word before handing it on.
Jeremiah and Jesus share some points
of comparison. They both faced hostility from those upset by their message. Jeremiah’s
confidence parallels Jesus’ total trust in his Father.
Jeremiah believed God would
deliver him. And Jesus understood that his Father intended to rescue him from
death.
Jesus’ enemies thought they could
silence him for good, but repeatedly he slipped away from them: “they led Him
to the brow of the hill ... so that they might hurl him off the cliff; but
Jesus passed through the midst of them and went on his way.” Later, Jesus would
definitively escape the powers of sin and death in his resurrection
In the second half of His Nazareth
address, which opened with a proclamation of God’s year of favour, Jesus
articulated the meaning of his ministry. He was following in the footsteps of
God’s prophetic servants.
Like Elijah and Elisha, Jesus
offered God’s salvation to ‘outsiders’, to foreigners. Jesus’ rejection on the
cross would bless all the nations of the earth as they came to accept the Good
News, believe in it, and be saved.
The manifestation of God’s mercy,
Jesus declared, extends from the poor and captive of Israel to all non-Israelites
yearning for God’s favour. Jesus said that we can find precedents for divine
outreach to Gentiles in the careers of Elijah and Elisha. In their ministries,
many in Israel did not receive God’s healing touch, but Gentiles did.
Because they were not open to
sharing God’s bounty with others, Jesus’ neighbours were unable to receive it
themselves. In every age, believers are challenged to grasp God’s boundless plan
of love.
We rejoice with and pray for the
Salvatorians on the Silver Jubilee of their presence in Canada. Let us resolve
to radically accept the gift of eternal salvation given to us in the life,
ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, and his outpouring of
the Holy Spirit on the world, which compels love and mercy to flourish among
us!
Dear brothers and sisters, emulate
Saint Thérèse and Fr. Jordan. Let the Holy Spirit move your hearts today to be
ever more surely missionary-disciples of God’s love and mercy. Your homes, your
schools, and your places of work, recreation, and civic engagement, are your
mission fields. The work of salvation continues to the ends of the world
through you.
Photos: A Delaney
