Catholic Reading Wednesday

With many thanks to our awesome curator, Karen Celano, you can delve into a faith-related news article each Wednesday! Karen writes:

Therese's Little Way and the Little Sisters of the Poor

After joining the convent at age 15, she lived an obscure, uneventful life as a cloistered Carmelite nun.  Nine years later, she died of tuberculosis.  Yet Pope Pius X, himself a great saint, called her the "greatest saint of modern times." Mother Teresa chose her religious name after her, and Pope John Paul II, who himself will be canonized in April, declared her a Doctor of the Church alongside St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Catherine of Siena.  On October 1, the worldwide Church celebrated her feast day.  

She was, of course, St. Therese of Lisieux, one of the Church's most beloved saints.  Her simple spirituality was built on the idea of approaching Jesus like a child - full of hope, love, and faithful trust.  Her writing is devoid of erudition, but full of wisdom.  And she teaches us that acts of heroic and saintly courage can be performed in the midst of everyday life.

In our own community, the Little Sisters of the Poor are living out such saintly heroism in their small acts of caring for the impoverished elderly.  Yet their ministry is being threatened by the demand that they comply with the HHS mandate to provide insurance coverage for contraception and abortion for their employees.  Currently, despite their order's poverty, they are engaged in a class-action lawsuit hoping to earn an exemption from the mandate.  When Catholic sisters are forced to choose between either violating the moral teachings of the Church or sacrificing their holy calling to serve the poor and needy, it's difficult to see how their religious freedom is being protected.  

Please pray to St. Therese on behalf of the Little Sisters of the Poor who are living out her "little way," and please consider how you can help support the Little Sisters' ministries and vocation.

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