First Saturday Parish Rosary at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 7/2/2016

Today, at the First Saturday Rosary for Peace in my parish, I presented the life of an obscure Carmelite Saint for our parishioners to reflect on - St. Teresa of the Andes (little-known, at least, here in Hawaii).  When I held up her photograph from my tablet (bottom-right photo) to the gathered participants, most appeared immediately intrigued, as is usually the case when I show actual photos of our modern Saints... but today, for whatever the reason, the interest in our meeting's Monthly Saint seemed much greater... and I was glad.

  

A relic from the bones of St. Teresa of the

Andes was displayed for public veneration

at this month's First Saturday Rosary at

St. Anthony of Padua Church, Kailua.

For those not familiar with St. Teresa of the Andes, a brief biography can be viewed here...but basically, she was an aristocratic young woman from Chile, who from an early age was favored with locutions [the mystical charism of hearing divine communications] from Jesus and Mary.  Growing up, she was guided by her mystical experiences to overcome her character faults, including a tendency to be self-centered. Her personal devotion to St. Therese the Little Flower also filled her with a strong desire to join the Discalced Carmelites, and by the time she finally entered Carmel, she was already well-advanced in sanctity due to her consistent effort in following the words and inspirations she received from God.  The Saint died at the tender age of 19 after offering herself as a victim soul to Christ.

For me, I think one of the lessons learned from reflecting on St. Teresa's life is the need to listen and abide by the "words" of the Holy Spirit within our own hearts. I understand that not all people are privileged to hear the audible voices of Jesus and Mary, like how St. Teresa did, but I do believe that every person of faith has the capacity to be directly inspired by the Holy Spirit in varying degrees; either by distinctly clear thoughts - that "small voice" within - or positive sentiments that encourage us to strive for greater faith-lives and/or to do good things. I shared my idea with the group and suggested that, perhaps by paying closer attention to our own personal inspirations from God and being obedient to it, we too, in some way, could end up attaining holiness like St. Teresa of the Andes. Again, intrigue was noted in the faces of the people, along with serious reflection.

Prayer meeting participants lined up

to venerate the relic of St. Teresa.

After our Rosary Prayer finished, many people approached the display altar to venerate a 1st Class Relic of St. Teresa that I had brought for this occasion.  I can usually tell how impressed people are by a Saint or Blessed based on the number of people who stay to venerate a relic before heading out to the Mass next door... and this time, there was a larger group than normal so I think many deeply connected with St. Teresa's faith-message today.

The next opportunity to make a connection with a Saint/Blessed at our parish will be on Saturday, August 6th, beginning at 4:25pm in our Day Chapel.  All are welcome.