On Charity And Love By Two Saints

For Thérèse de Lisieux, born January 2, 1873, it was not enough that she devoted her entire life to Christ as a Carmelite nun beginning at the tender age of 15 on April 9, 1888. [1]  She desired martyrdom, not just one kind of martyrdom -- she wanted to have them all, to be scourged and crucified, to be flayed like St. Bartholomew, to be plunged into boiling oil like St. John [2] (even though he was unharmed).  Since this was not possible, she asked, "O my Jesus! what is your answer to all my follies?" [3]

Her answer came during her meditation when she opened the Epistles of St. Paul to find it.  There she read that "all cannot be apostles, prophets, doctors, etc., that the Church is composed of different members, and that the eye cannot be the hand at one and the same time." [4] Emphasis original.  That answer did not satisfy her.  She continued reading and a subsequent sentence "consoled" her:  "'Yet strive after THE BETTER GIFTS, and I point out to you a yet more excellent way.'  And the Apostle explain[ed] how all the most PERFECT gifts are nothing without LOVE.  That Charity is the EXCELLENT WAY that leads most surely to God." [5] Emphasis original.  Then Saint Thérèse concluded: "I understood that LOVE, COMPRISED ALL VOCATIONS, THAT LOVE WAS EVERYTHING, THAT IT EMBRACED ALL TIMES AND PLACES....IN A WORD, THAT IT WAS ETERNAL!" [6] Emphasis original.

About 648 years earlier was born another saint, Saint Thomas Aquinas, "circa 1225," [7] who had this to say on charity and love [8]:  

  I am the Good Shepherd. Surely it is fitting that Christ should be a shepherd, for just as a flock is guided and fed by a shepherd so the faithful are fed by Christ with spiritual food and with his own body and blood. The Apostle said: You were once like sheep without a shepherd, but now you have returned to the guardian and ruler of your souls. The prophet has said: As a shepherd he pastures his flock.

  Christ said that the shepherd enters through the gate and that he is himself the gate as well as the shepherd. Then it is necessary that he enter through himself. By so doing, he reveals himself, and through himself he knows the Father. But we enter through him because through him we find happiness.

  Take heed: no one else is the gate but Christ. Others reflect his light, but no one else is the true light. John the Baptist was not the light, but he bore witness to the light. It is said of Christ, however: He was the true light that enlightens every man. For this reason no one says that he is the gate; this title is Christ’s own. However, he has made others shepherds and given that office to his members; for Peter was a shepherd, and so were the other apostles and all good bishops after them. Scripture says: I shall give you shepherds according to my own heart. Although the bishops of the Church, who are her sons, are all shepherds, nevertheless Christ refers only to one person in saying: I am the Good Shepherd, because he wants to emphasise the virtue of charity. Thus, no one can be a good shepherd unless he is one with Christ in charity. Through this we become members of the true shepherd.

  The duty of a good shepherd is charity; therefore Christ said: The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep. Know the difference between a good and a bad shepherd: the good shepherd cares for the welfare of his flock, but the bad shepherd cares only for his own welfare.

  The Good Shepherd does not demand that shepherds lay down their lives for a real flock of sheep. But every spiritual shepherd must endure the loss of his bodily life for the salvation of the flock, since the spiritual good of the flock is more important than the bodily life of the shepherd, when danger threatens the salvation of the flock. This is why the Lord says: The good shepherd lays down his life, that is, his physical life, for his sheep; this he does because of his authority and love. Both, in fact, are required: that they should be ruled by him, and that he should love them. The first without the second is not enough.

No wonder they are saints but we, all of us, are not far from being saintly, if we simply take time to meditate on the true meaning of the Passion which, in short, is God's immense love for all of us sinners.  Therefore, the clearest path that is shown to us by God, by Christ and by His and our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the path to take to return to God, is love, our unconditional love for God.



[1] Thérèse, de Lisieux, Saint.  Story of a Soul The Autobiography of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux . 3rd Edition. Translated by John Clarke, O.C.D.  Washington D.C.:  Washington Province of Discalced Carmelites, Inc., 1996, p.7.
[2] Ibid., 193.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid., 193-4.
[5] Ibid., 194.
[6] Ibid. Everything in this quotation, including the four-dot suspension point  "...." is original.
[7] St. Thomas Aquinas. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/st-thomas-aquinas-9187231 [Accessed 28 Aug 2013].
[8]  Office Of Readings. Tuesday, August 27, 2013. Second Reading.  An exposition on John by Saint Thomas Aquinas.  The remnant of Israel shall be led to pasture. [Internet]. 2013. Universalis website. Available from http://universalis.com/20130826/readings.htm [Accessed 28 Aug 2013].  NOTE: This particular passage may not be available on the Universalis' website at a later date since the readings are updated periodically with the recent replacing the past.