Tag: Humility

October Reflection

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October 2019 has been declared by Pope Francis to be Extraordinary Missionary Month. The Holy Father emphasizes Jesus’ Great Commission to the disciples found in Matthew 28:19-20, saying, “this mandate of the Lord is not an option for the Church. It is her ‘essential task,’ for the Church is ‘missionary by nature.'”
I was reflecting yesterday, at the start of this Extraordinary Missionary Month, on what this means for me personally, my community and for the Church. In particular, I was praying with my Confirmation saint, as well as one of Women Youth Apostles’ patrons, St. Therese of the Child Jesus. Therese is famous for her ‘Little Way’ of childlike trust. She is also named principle patroness, alongside St. Francis Xavier, of all missions and missionaries- despite being a cloistered nun in a Carmelite monastery until her death at the age of 24!
What can we learn from this little saint about being a missionary? For we are all called to be missionaries- for if this is the Church’s ‘essential task’ and she is ‘missionary by nature’, and if the Church is a people, you and me included, then this is our shared essential task! I think what we learn from Therese is to be a childlike missionary disciple, characterized by our humility, trust, surrender and zeal.
Humility, to know that we are always a work in progress, capable of and willing to be taught, to be formed. Humility helps us to know and accept where we have been, where we have faltered and where we have soared. St. Therese once said, “We must not be discouraged by our faults, for children fall frequently.” Humility helps us look at where we are now and where we need to go, with Heaven in mind.
Trust, in the Father’s love and mercy, recalling the ways He has led us to this moment, with confidence that He has good plans in store and will not abandon His children. Trust that wherever we are led and whatever we are given, it is for our good and our salvation, and likely for the good and salvation of others. This trust leads us to surrender.
Surrender, of our need for control, of our need for validation, of our need for attention. Surrender of those things- both bad and good- which are obstacles to our relationship with Jesus. Surrender of our plans, our designs.
And finally, zeal, which is the hunger of the missionary disciple. Zeal moves us to do God’s will for the sake of souls- ours and those to whom we are sent. Zeal is missionary energy fueled by gratitude, Christian joy and love born of conversion; Zeal is a fire ignited by the light of the Resurrection. Missionary zeal is not satisfied with anything less than Heaven. “I don’t want to be a saint by halves; I choose all that you will!” Zeal is love in action! Zeal would set the world on fire with love for the Gospel.

I pray that each of us would, in this Extraordinary Missionary Month, rediscover our missionary identity as disciples of Jesus Christ. I pray that, if you do not know the Father’s mission for you right now, that He would reveal it to you in prayer. I pray that each of us would adopt a childlike disposition with the Holy Spirit, allowing ourselves to be called and to be led in mission. Finally, I pray that each of us would seek to cultivate at least one of these virtues- humility, trust, surrender and zeal- this month, that we might grow ever closer to Jesus and help those to whom we are sent know, love and serve Him. Our young people, our families, our Church and our world benefits from our lived and shared relationship with Jesus!

Sincerely in Christ,
Krysti Patient
Assistant Director, Women Youth Apostles

BLOG: July Formation Reflection

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Who better to tie together sacramental and community lives into one that St. Therese? Not only is she one of our patron saints as WOYA’s…but she’s brilliant and full of words of wisdom through her “little way.” She knows a lot about the sacramental and community life, despite the fact that she lived a mere 24 years, because she entered the Carmelite order at the age of 15. Need a little more information on her? Check out Father Martin’s video here.

As women of faith involved in youth ministry we have individually spent plenty of time developing our own strategies for how to develop communities of faith saturated in the sacraments. So rather than focusing on what we need to building such communities…I want to focus on what we need to beware of because they tear down communities. Two things comes to came to mind following our last Saturday formation meeting: gossip and pride.

Pope Francis further developed the first point (gossip) this reflection from May 2013. “When we prefer to gossip, gossip about others, criticize others- these are everyday things that happen to everyone, including me – these are the temptations of the evil one who does not want the Spirit to come to us and bring about peace and meekness in the Christian community”. “These struggles always exist” in the parish, in the family, in the neighborhood, among friends”. Instead through the Spirit we are born into a new life, he makes us “meek, charitable.”

The Holy Father then outlined the correct behavior for a Christian. First, “do not judge anyone” because “the only Judge is the Lord.” Then “keep quiet” and if you have something to say, say it to the interested parties, to those “who can remedy the situation,” but “not to the entire neighborhood.” “If, by the grace of the Holy Spirit – concluded Pope Francis – we succeed in never gossiping, it will be a great step forward” and “will do us all good”. For our Holy Father’s full reflection you can visit the Radio Vaticano website here.

The second of these is less obvious. We all work with young girls and we are all too well aware of the fact that gossip is nothing but painful. But what about pride? Well pride gets in the way of bring (1) gentle and (2)humble which are the two qualities we mentioned during the July formation meeting at qualities we need (and are given by God) in order to have a fulfilling sacramental ad community life. These are two of the qualities that come to my mind…but what would you add?

Just a thought!

And what better way to end than with a “tought” from our Holy Father while in Rio for WYD:

“We need saints without cassocks, without veils – we need saints with jeans and tennis shoes. We need saints that go to the movies that listen to music, that hang out with their friends. We need saints that place God in first place ahead of succeeding in any career. We need saints that look for time to pray every day and who know how to be in love with purity, chastity and all good things. We need saints – saints for the 21st century with a spirituality appropriate to our new time. We need saints that have a commitment to helping the poor and to make the needed social change. We need saints to live in the world, to sanctify the world and to not be afraid of living in the world by their presence in it. We need saints that drink Coca-Cola, that eat hot dogs, that surf the internet and that listen to their iPods. We need saints that love the Eucharist, that are not afraid or embarrassed to eat a pizza or drink a beer with their friends. We need saints who love the movies, dance, sports, theater. We need saints that are open sociable normal happy companions. we need saints who are in this world and who know how to enjoy the best in this world without being callous or mundane. We need saints.” 

– Pope Francis, World Youth Day 2013

*CORRECTION: The quote was wrongly attributed to Pope Francis…but it still a great bit of wisdom so I thought I would leave it up!