The heart of St. Therese was filled with fervent desires to be not only a mother of souls in her vocation as a Carmelite, but to be, "...a warrior, a priest, an apostle, a doctor of the Church, a martyr--there is no heroic deed I do not wish to perform. I feel as daring as a crusader, ready to die for the Church upon the battlefield." Her unfulfilled desires became a martyrdom to her within the confines of her convent walls until she was inspired and consoled by the words of St Paul in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, Chapter 13, about the excellence of love above all other gifts and virtues.
"As I thought about the Church's mystical body, I could not see myself in any of the members mentioned by St. Paul, or rather, I wanted to see myself in all of them. Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I saw that if the Church was a body made up of different members, the most essential and important one of all would not be lacking; I saw that the Church must have a heart, that this heart must be on fire with love. I saw that it was love alone which moved her other members, and were this love to fail, apostles would no longer spread the Gospel, and martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. I saw that all vocations are summed up in love, and that love is all in all, embracing every time and place because it is eternal.
"In a transport of ecstatic joy I cried: 'Jesus, my love, I have found at last my vocation; it is love. I have found my place in the Church's heart, the place You Yourself have given me, my God. Yes, there in the heart of Mother Church, I will be love; so shall I be all things, so shall my dreams come true.' "
St. Therese, pray for priests and pray for us!
PRAY FOR UNBORN FUTURE PRIESTS
40 DAYS FOR LIFE DAY 9: THANKS TO ALL FIRST-TIMERS
Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests, and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.
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