Sep 29., 2012   /   Homilies

The Story of Three Trees

[dropcap style=”font-size: 16px; color: #745cb2;”] Homily in the Eucharistic celebration on the Feastday of St. Therese Couderc, foundress of the Cenacle Congregation.

Presider, Fr. James Gascon, SJ began his homily with this story:

The Story of Three Trees

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, “Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate caring and everyone would see the beauty.”

Then the second tree said, “Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.”

Finally the third tree said, “I want to grow up to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.”

After a few years of praying their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, “This looks like a strong tree; I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter,” and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, “This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to a shipyard.” The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsman came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, “I don’t need anything special from my tree, I’ll take this one,” and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day a man and a woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made for the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn’t think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said “Peace” and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

Mother Therese’s spirituality is rooted in a deep mystical experience of the goodness of God, characterized by self-surrender and total abandonment to the will of God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

What does Mother Therese tell us in our time?

We offer our weakness:

Omnipotence of the Father,communicate yourself to my weakness

and deign lift up from its profound misery, so that it may perform works

of being offered to Your Divine Majesty and procuring its glory.

We offer our weakness, and precisely in these weaknesses that we become effective instruments of God’s love.  Part of offering is the awareness of them; and the grace of understanding that comes with our offering.

For example, one who directs a retreat is able to journey better with a retreatant who has difficulty praying because she herself experienced how difficult it is to pray.  Sometimes, when we are “good” at praying, then we fail to hear a retreatant who shares us nothing but his struggles in prayers.

Just like the three trees who offered their own pride, arrogance, and slef-absorption, were deemed worthy to experience Jesus most close, Therese today summons us to surrender the self, not in its perfection but in its rawness and feebleness, to a God who transforms and makes wonders in His work in us.

Photos from the Feastday celebration