Memorial of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, virgin and martyr
(Nahum 2:1.3,3:1-3.6-7; Matthew 16:24-28)
Today’s memorial is optional, but its saint so closely fulfilled
the gospel mandate that it deserves attention.
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross was born and raised a Jew. A student of philosophy, she became a leading
proponent of phenomenology, which might be called a “hands-on approach to
reality.” Reading the works of St. Teresa of Avila, she converted to
Catholicism and then, like St. Teresa, a Carmelite nun. Nevertheless, because of her Jewish heritage she
could not escape the long reach of the Nazis. She died in Auschwitz in
1942. Pope John Paul II canonized her in
1999.
St. Teresa took up her cross, that is, her Jewish
heritage. She delivered herself to the
Nazis telling her sister who accompanied her, “Come,
Each of us has a cross but, fortunately, not as onerous as
that of St. Teresa Benedicta. Perhaps it
is an aged parent to care for or an excessively demanding boss. Taking it up our cross with patience, we,
like St. Teresa Benedicta, will find ourselves in eternal life.
