"Some of the clearest expressions of the Gospel come from young people and so whenever I encounter them, I cannot help but be encouraged. Whether it is meeting with school children, teenagers at the Youth Rally and Mass for Life, or dinner with college students, I see in them a special vibrancy as they search for the right path for their lives.
"As Pope Francis has noted, 'We have all seen during World Youth Days the joy that young people show in their faith and their desire for an ever more solid and generous life of faith. Young people want to live life to the fullest. Encountering Christ, letting themselves be caught up in and guided by his love, enlarges the horizons of existence, gives it a firm hope which will not disappoint' (Lumen Fidei, 53). This dynamism was on full display during the recent visit of our Holy Father.
"Eager to know the faith, young people are also capable of the most profound insights. Thérèse Martin was not yet 14 years old when she came to a realization that would change her for the rest of her life and inspire countless others after she died at the tender age of 24. In her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, she describes how she was overly sensitive growing up as the youngest child in the family. Then on Christmas Day 1886, she overheard her father say something that previously would have upset her. Instead, she recounted, 'Love filled my heart, I forgot myself and henceforth I was happy' (Story, chapter 5).
"From then on, Thérèse grew in love. It was the love of Jesus in her heart, together with the love of our Blessed Mother Mary. . . ."
In a recent commentary, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, DC,reflected on lessons we can learn from Saint Thérèse of Lisieux on ordinary acts of love.
To access Cardinal Wuerl's complete post, please visit:
Seek First the Kingdom: Simple and Ordinary Acts of Love Renew the World (1 OCT 15)
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