A gift from St. Therese of Lisieux

May 5, 2023 | NEWS

Will you go with us to Lisieux to St. Theresa? I was asked by Father Theodore Suchoń, the retired custodian of the shrine of St. Teresa in Rybnik Chwałowice. I can't hide the fact that the priest surprised me with this question, so I immediately didn't know what to say. I heard in the receiver: please don't worry about anything, just ask permission from your superiors. I asked Sr. Provincial Superior for her opinion, I got the green light. However, I knew that May would be a very demanding month for me. However, when I read that April 29 marks the 100th anniversary of the beatification of St. Teresa - I rejoiced heartily. I understood that this is a special time and when I thanked Fr. Theodore and said that I would go it was the Priest who calmly replied - There will be Sister Dulcissima walking in the person of a sister in the thanksgiving procession in Lisieux. I was touched. I also realized that the sender of the invitation to Lisieux that I had received from Fr. Theodore was a Carmelite saint. This is how St. Therese of the Child Jesus invited us to give thanks and adore God. The central celebration in Lisieux was held in a solemn atmosphere. It was a great celebration! At the shrine of St. Thérèse in Lisieux, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline assured with simplicity of heart that St. Thérèse is teaching us as well as the whole Church today a valuable lesson. He said that St. Thérèse teaches us a Catholicism based on humility, total trust in God, and participation in Christ's saving mission through intercessory prayer and sacrifice. The cardinal noted that Pope Pius XI called her the star of the pontificate and also pointed out that she is the word that God speaks to us because even today He shows us through her , that for Him the most important thing is humility. Saint Teresa and Sr. Dulcissima how similar they are. This thought kept coming back to me like a boomerang. I realized, once again, that St. Teresa is a gift of heaven to Sr. Dulcissima, but also to our entire congregation. The 100th anniversary of the beatification and also the 150th anniversary of the birth of St. Therese of the Child Jesus were events that brought together large crowds for the Eucharist in the Basilica of Lisieux. After the Mass, there was an opportunity for personal prayer and veneration of St. Therese's relics. With gratitude in my heart, we returned, back to Poland. May God be glorified in His angels and saints. s. Małgorzata Cur
Friday 5 May

Friday 5 May

May 4, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

Friday of the 4th week of Eastertide First reading - Acts 13:26-33 “‘We have come here to tell you the Good News. It was to our ancestors that God made the promise but it is to us, their children, that he has fulfilled it, by raising Jesus from the dead. As scripture says in the second psalm: You are my son: today I have become your father’”. God promises and saves. Promise is made to our forefathers in faith. But the promise is fulfilled in Jesus. Promise is fulfilled by raising Jesus from the dead. How is the promise fulfilled by the resurrection? The promise is fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus because in Jesus Risen, we become sons and daughters of God the father. Jesus the only Son of God died for our sins. But He gained victory over death because He was raised by God the Father. So, in Jesus Risen we are liberated to become sons and daughters of God. Our faith in Jesus Risen is the faith that liberates us to be sons and daughters of God the Father. Our sins are forgiven in Jesus Christ and in Him we are liberated. Let’s reflect: How much am I grateful to God for fulfilling His promise to our forefathers?
Thursday 4 May

Thursday 4 May

May 3, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

Thursday of the 4th week of Eastertide First reading - Acts 13:13-25 “To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel”. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise of God. Jesus is the descendent of King David. Jesus is Savior. The coming of Jesus was heralded by John the Baptist. The same John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of repentance. In these dynamics we can see that God is promising but it involves a role from God and a responsibility from the people of God. God promised the redemption and Jesus became the Savior. John became the preacher of repentance so that we repent and accept Jesus as our Savior. When we don’t recognize the need of salvation, we don’t accept Jesus as Savior. When we forget the need of repentance, we forget to accept the Jesus as Savior. Let’s reflect: Do I recognize my need of repentance to accept Jesus as my Savior?
Wednesday 3 May

Wednesday 3 May

May 2, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

Saints Philip and James, Apostles - Feast First reading - 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 “because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything”. This Word of God is very important because St. Paul is very precise. You must believe EXACTLY what he preached. Believing anything else will not lead to anything. This is important because we would like to add to the gospel what is convenient to us and what is comfortable to us. This is unacceptable. We must believe exactly what is in the gospel. So, we must be faithful to the essence of the preaching of the Apostles. That is why we also celebrate their feast and maintain a special devotion to them. We want to believe exactly what they preached. The devotion to the Apostles is very vital to remain faithful to their teachings. To follow exactly what they preached and nothing else. Let’s reflect: How much authentic is my faith to the teachings of the Apostles?
Tuesday 2 May

Tuesday 2 May

May 2, 2023 | DAILY BREAD

Saint Athanasius, Bishop, Doctor Tuesday of the 4th week of Eastertide First reading - Acts 11:19-26 “for he was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith”. This is the description about Barnabas in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. He was a good man. He was a good man who is filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith. These three components are very important in the life of testimony. Because we read after this description about Barnabas that, “And a large number of people were won over to the Lord”. This is in the sense that because of what Barnabas is, a large number of people were won over to the Lord. So, these qualities, being a good person, being filled with the Holy Spirit and being filled with faith, caused this effective mission. It could be that these qualities can exist alone. One can be a good person but without faith. One can have faith but not open to Holy Spirit. One can have the Holy Spirit but not faith. So, it’s important to have these three qualities together to give a true witness which could win people over to the Lord. Let’s reflect: Do my witness include being good, being filled with the Holy Spirit and with faith?