Homily For Saturday, Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, Year A, 3rd October, 2026. The Memorial of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus

Readings: Job 42:1-3.5-6.12-17, Ps.119, Luke 10:17-24

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

UNDERSTANDING THE TRUE JOY OF OUR MISSION AS CHRISTIANS

In Christ's mission, many things can make us happy, and we often hope for more of them. But one goal should be the basis for all our desires. And this is what Jesus is telling us in our Gospel passage today, for when his disciples came back rejoicing with the report of how they were victorious on the mission he sent them.

Jesus said to them: ‘I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.

Here, Jesus made it clear that the true joy of our mission is to make heaven, and he warns us to be careful and make sure our priorities and motivations are found around this one goal of making it to heaven.

Little wonder Jesus, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, said, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Thus, if we are ready to open our hearts in humility and simplicity, God himself will reveal many things to us about himself.

Dear friends, this is exactly what happened in the life of Job in our first reading, for when he opened his heart to God, Job realised his faults, and he repented of his mistakes, and embraced the will of God for him as he remained faithful even in the most difficult times in his life. And God blessed and restored him even more than before, thereby telling us that those who hold onto God till the end, despite the trials and persecutions of life, God will bless and restore us to his glory.

This is also what we see in the life of St. Therese of the Child Jesus whose memorial we celebrate today. For when a priest told her that her falling asleep during prayer was due to a want of fervour and fidelity and she should be desolate over it, she wrote “I am not desolate. I remember that little children are just as pleasing to their parents when they are asleep as when they are awake.”

LET US PRAY: Lord God, today we are made to know that the true Joy of our mission is to make heaven, may we experience this true Joy of your heavenly kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Have a fruitful weekend