Message of Therese of Lisieux
Circular letter of the General Superiors of O.Carm. and OCD
on the occasion of the centenary of the death of Saint Therese of Lisieux
(Part 2)
I. Jesus's plan for life
12. The Gospel of Jesus, the good news He shares with us, is a proclamation of life and freedom. Freedom, which is synonymous with love that forgets itself and dedicates itself to the good of others.
13. During His earthly life and in His preaching, Jesus advocated for life even to the acceptance of the dying process, which culminated on the cross. By His incarnation, Jesus embraces human nature and values it in all its dignity. This leads Him to respect the life of every person and to struggle against everything that diminishes and oppresses it. He never remains indifferent and apathetic towards suffering and death. Through His attitudes, He reveals God's intention, which is a plan for life that includes suffering as a path to life and resurrection.
14. The God of life has become present in Jesus of Nazareth. He, who was the Word of life (John 1:4), came to give us life in abundance (cf. John 10:10) and to transform us into God's children (John 1:14). In the synagogue of Nazareth, at the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus also presented life as liberation (Luke 4:17-21). In this programmatic speech, He pointed out various forms of slavery and oppression that control humanity and keep it in a situation of death.
15. The plan for life that Jesus presents and develops pertains to three areas of human relationships: with God, with others, and with things.
From fatalism to the responsibility of God's sons and daughters
16. Against the plan of death, which views God as an omnipotent and fearsome creator, Jesus established His plan of life, which reveals God as a Father-Mother, who instead of imposing a fate upon us, helps us overcome fatalism and feel like free and responsible collaborators. Relationships with the God of life, according to Jesus, are relationships of love and trust.
17. The revelation of the Father's face that Jesus provided is the foundation of every believer's life and becomes the center of his existence. This God of Jesus is a God who respects our freedom. An unknown God, who reveals Himself in His incarnate Son and through the action of the Holy Spirit destroys all our idols. God, always greater, is the only foundation of our existence.
18. It is on the basis of this image of God our Lord Jesus Christ that the commitment to life can become a reality in all its dimensions.
From division to brotherly community
19. In the plan of life that Jesus presented and initiated, relationships with other people are summarized in the commandment of love for one's neighbor, based on love for God with all one's heart, soul, and strength (cf. Matthew 27:37–39).
20. Guided by this love, Jesus stands on the side of the marginalized and excluded from society, condemned to death in many ways: the poor, the sick, women, children, sinners, foreigners. To all of them, He offers life. He fights against everything that opposes that life, as well as against everything that causes division: between neighbor and non-neighbor, between Gentile and Jew, between man and woman.
21. The human person is the synthesis of creation, realized in the Word and through the Word (cf. Colossians 1:15–16; John 1:3), and therefore possesses a sacred character given to it by God. The human being, in the light of Christ, appears in the universe as one who hears God's word and responds to it on behalf of all things as a partner of God in dialogue. By His incarnation, the Son of God "in a certain way united Himself with every human being."6 Christ, who is near to us and present in every human being, "wished to identify in a special way with the weakest and poorest,"7 as evidenced by the text Matthew 25:31–46.
22. This is a sacramental presence, which both reveals and conceals. In the face of every human being, we can meet something of the face of Jesus, the Word of life. The mystery of God is felt primarily in the unique experience of each person. Just so in the mutuality of man and woman. John Paul II highlighted the dignity of women and "their special contribution to life and the pastoral and missionary activity of the Church…which expects (from women) an original contribution to its spreading…especially regarding the dignity of women and respect for human life…and the spreading of foundational goods of life and peace".8
23. Discovering God present in others brings about a change in interpersonal relationships and leads us to live a commitment to concrete and effective love: it opens us to universal brotherhood in the Church and in society and demands from us a commitment to everything related to life, community, and sharing, starting with a preferential option for the poor, in whom the image of God is "darkened, even mocked".9
From selfish use of goods to sharing
24. In Jesus' plan for life, relationships with things are transformed. We are invited to move from their use (which alienates us, enslaves us, and leads us to oppress others and expose them to situations of death) to their utilization in freedom, and above all to their sharing with others in a just and humane society for all. Through Jesus, things should become a place of encounter with God and with brothers and sisters, a means of sharing and community among people.
25. Jesus' religious message contains social implications that lead to a commitment to justice as a source of life. Here is shown the social and communal dimension of the commandment of love. Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God and His plan for life, which carries responses in the structures of human coexistence. When these structures are founded on injustice and oppression, they become instruments of death. Jesus' teaching powerfully highlights this and sternly admonishes and calls for a commitment to justice-life.
For reflection
This part of the letter about Jesus's mission is important for two reasons:
- it can be one of the concrete ways we fulfill Pope John Paul II's call to dedicate the year 1997 to "reflections on Christ," who is the Father's Word and became man through the Holy Spirit" (Tertio millenio adveniente 40);
- this part of the letter will serve as the foundation for the entire remaining part of the document, titled "Therese of Lisieux lives Jesus' plan for life and bears witness to it".
