Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Thursday of Week 26 in Ordinary Time
Gospel: Luke 10:1–12
In today’s Gospel, Jesus sends the seventy-two disciples ahead of Him and tells them that their first word upon entering a house should be: “Peace to this house.” Before being preachers, therefore, disciples are called to be bearers of peace. But we cannot bring to others a peace that does not first live within us. The mission begins in interiority and intimacy with the Lord, in that hidden place where we allow ourselves to be loved by God, where our fears become trust, our agitation becomes surrender, and our need to control gives way to confidence in His providence. This is why Jesus sends the disciples with so little: no purse, no haversack, no sandals.
Their security must come not from what they possess but from the One who sends them. Thérèse of Lisieux understood this profoundly. She never travelled to distant missions, yet through her “little way” of confidence and love she became Patroness of the Missions. Her missionary fruitfulness was born in the hidden intimacy of Carmel, where ordinary actions offered with extraordinary love became instruments of grace for the whole Church. The message of Christ reminds us that mission is not first about doing more but about belonging more deeply to Him. A peaceful person is not someone without difficulties, but someone whose heart has found its centre in God. From that interior communion comes a peace that can enter homes, relationships, communities, and difficult situations. The closer we remain to the Lord in the secret of our hearts, the more naturally our presence itself can become a proclamation: “Peace to this house.” Let’s reflect: Is my daily activity flowing from a peaceful interior intimacy with the Lord, so that wherever I go, my presence can quietly bring His peace?
Don Giorgio