St Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face,
Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Thérèse Martin was born in 1873 Normandy, France. She entered the Carmel of Lisieux at the age of fifteen and died at the age of twenty-four in 1897.  Thérèse achieved holiness through her grasp of the central Gospel truth of God's merciful saving love for everyone without exception and the importance of a childlike trust in that love. Her short autobiography was written at the request of others and revealed her strong desire that all should know this truth and respond in trust no matter what their condition. She is the patron saint of missionaries and was declared a Doctor (that is, an official teacher) of the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1997.

The first reading for the Mass Isaiah 66:10-14c speaks of the “flowing peace” that the Lord wishes to send and the second reading 1 John 4:7-16 reminds us that “as long as we love one another God will live in us and his love will be complete in us” while in the Gospel, Matthew 11:25-30 Jesus rejoices that the Father has hidden “these things from the learned and the clever” and revealed them “to mere children” and calls us to learn that his “yoke is easy and burden light.”