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Theology of the Heart- the Saints |
St. Therese, Little Flower and the ordained priesthood
by
Monsignor Charles M. Mangan
In her superb autobiography "Story of a Soul," Saint Therese of the
Child Jesus shared her desire to live diverse vocations in the
Church out of love for God: “ . . . I feel within me other
vocations. I feel the vocation of THE WARRIOR, THE PRIEST, THE
APOSTLE, THE DOCTOR, THE MARTYR.”
She also
acknowledged that she had been summoned to be “Carmelite, Spouse,
Mother.” The Little Flower explained her wish. “I feel in me the
vocation of the PRIEST. With what love, O Jesus, I would carry You
in my hands when, at my voice, You would come down from Heaven. And
with what love would I give You to Souls! But alas! While desiring
to be a Priest, I admire and envy the humility of St. Francis of
Assisi and I feel the vocation of imitating him in refusing the
sublime dignity of the Priesthood.”
Saint
Therese was not attempting to refute the Church’s ancient doctrine
that declares that ordination to the Sacred Priesthood is reserved
only to men. Instead, she confessed her relentless prayer to do as
the priest does, namely, to give Christ to hungry souls.
Even if
she could accept the God-given gift of the ordained priesthood, she
asserted, she would refuse because of her personal unworthiness to
become an alter Christus. Saint Therese referred to the example of
Saint Francis of Assisi who consented to being ordained to the
Diaconate but not to the Priesthood.
What can ordained priests as well as other disciples of Christ learn
from the Little Flower's moving sentiments?
Priests
come away with a renewed sense of their own unworthiness in the
sight of the Lord. Who can really claim the privilege of acting in
persona Christi (“in the person of Christ”)? When priests offer the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, they take the place of Christ; they
possess the awesome authority to “command” Jesus, in the words of
Saint Therese, to “come down from heaven.” No priest can presume to
have earned this precious grace, which hails from God alone.
Other
members of the Church also are enriched by meditating on this
paragraph in the "Story of a Soul." Because of his Baptism, each
Christian is called to share the Gospel with his neighbor. This is a
serious obligation, not a polite recommendation. With genuine
concern for the honor of God and the salvation of souls, one is to
“carry” the Savior to others, thereby helping to contribute to their
eventual everlasting salvation in Christ.
Saint
Therese had a true sense of her own identity: she suffered from no
illusions as to what the Lord required of her in her personal
vocation as a “Carmelite, Spouse, Mother.” She wanted nothing else
than to do the Almighty Himself directed her, realizing that
submission to the Divine Will is the path to Heaven.
Whether a member of the clergy, a consecrated person or lay person,
each of us has a pressing task: to reveal Jesus to those around us.
We imitate the “Little Way” of Saint Therese in sharing the Messiah
with others, confident that He will bless and strengthen them as He
has fortified us.
Saint
Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, pray for us!
Msgr. Charles M. Mangan is a
priest of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, SD. A prolific writer,
Monsignor is a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for Institutes
of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. He has an S.T.L.
in Canon Law and is currently completing a doctorate in Mariology.
This page is the work of the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and
Mary
