Contemplatives remind us of the need for God in our lives

BY ARCHBISHOP CHARLES CHAPUT

Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus was born January 2, 1873, in a small French town. She lived just 24 years, the last nine as a nun in a secluded Carmelite convent. On October 1, we will celebrate her feast day, and on October 17, World Mission Sunday, she will be made a doctor of the Church.

How is it that one who was so young and who lived in an enclosed monastery could be such a significant person in the life of the Church?

There are several reasons.

In her life of prayer and service to her sisters, she distilled, in a special way, the heart of the Gospel. She saw that her vocation was not that of a priest, nor a missionary, but to love God and her sisters and brothers.

Her "little way" of spiritual perfection and the renown of her holiness spread with incredible speed. Long before her official canonization on May 17, 1925, people were proclaiming her a saint.

When I talk with people about the contemplative life, I often hear that it seems like a waste for a person to spend their time confined in a monastery praying and working. A waste, even for the Church which is in need of religious and priests to serve the community.

To think this way is to miss the whole understanding of what religious life is all about—a gift of oneself wholly to God. How can that ever be a waste? It would be like saying it is a waste of time for a spouse to love his or her spouse. When it comes to love, the gift of oneself is precisely the point. And if one loves, the other never receives that love as a waste.

The contemplatives in our midst: the Trappists at Snowmass, the Benedictines at the new Abbey of St. Walburga, the Capuchin Poor Clares at Our Lady of Light Monastery at St. Patrick Church in Denver and the Discalced Carmelites at Carmel of the Holy Spirit in Littleton, all offer a tremendous gift to northern Colorado.

These women and men remind us of the importance of having a deep and committed relationship with God. God is so real for them that they have given everything to spend their whole life focused on Him.

Their intercessory prayer is an important part of the rhythm of our diocese. All of us find surprising graces in our lives through their prayers, even if we are not directly aware that they are praying for us.

God calls each of us to a unique vocation. But the noise and busy nature of our lives can distract us from the things that are really important. As we grow older and look back upon our lives, I think it is safe to say that none of us will wish that we had spent more time at the office or wish that we had been driving a nicer car. We will wish we had followed the example of St. Thérèse and the contemplatives among us and spent more of our time loving God and loving one another.

We are grateful to the contemplative brothers, sisters and priests of the archdiocese whose lives of sacrifice serve the Church, bring us graces and offer an example of God's centrality in our lives.