Home parish: St. Joseph Parish, Jasper
Education: Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, Missouri; Class of 2030
Saint: St. Thérèse of Lisieux
The theme of this Jubilee, “Pilgrims of Hope,” reminds me of a story of one of my favorite saints, St. Thérèse of Lisieux. In 1887, when St. Thérèse was 15, she felt called to enter the Carmelite convent in her hometown. At this time, the minimum age to enter was 16, so she went on pilgrimage to Rome and sought special permission to enter from Pope Leo XIII. When Thérèse met the pope, she begged to enter early. The Pope replied gently, “Well, my child, do what the superiors decide.” Though she did not receive immediate permission to enter, she learned to surrender more to God’s will and endure disappointment with love and perseverance. Eventually, her hope was fulfilled, and she was given permission from her bishop to enter the convent early.
St. Thérèse gives me hope because of her unshakeable confidence in God’s loving plan despite disappointments that arise. Already in my journey of vocational discernment, God has used moments of frustration and disappointment to deepen my trust in him and surrender to him before laying down the path before me. The multiple “no’s” I have received along the way have prompted a deeper yes in my own heart as I hope and trust in what he has in store for me.
For all of us, St. Thérèse can be a model of childlike trust and surrender that brings about great hope. God uses daily struggles, including illnesses, difficulties with coworkers, friends and family, and even our own shortcomings and weaknesses to draw us closer to himself. If we continue to relate and surrender our struggles to God as a child to a loving parent, and ask for what we need, we can hope he will give what’s best for us each day and bring us to our greatest hope: to be with him in heaven.