Pastor's Letter-- August 23, 2020

I subscribe to Gilbert, the magazine of the American Chesterton Society, which is now in fact an official church association of the faithful known as “The Apostolate of Common Sense.” I love the insightful, fun-loving and timely collection of writings found therein, whether from GKC's (Gilbert Keith Chesterton) treasure house or from his contemporary fans. They always seem to find more than enough to give a useful look at today’s world.

I read for the first time in the latest edition a very short story, almost a parable, by G.K. Chesterton, titled “The Dragon at Hide-and-Seek.” If it were available online, I would recommend it to you, but I cannot find it. However, you may get the point with the following quote. Commenting on the short story that I cannot share in full, Kevin O’Brien launches his thoughts beginning with words from Chesterton:

In his Preface to Nicholas Nickleby, Chesterton writes, “In every romance there must be the twin elements of loving and fighting. In every romance there must be the three characters: there must be the Princess, who is a thing to be loved; there must be the Dragon, who is a thing to be fought; and there must be St. George, who is a thing that both loves and fights.” As Catholics then, it seems we all must be romantics, at least in the sense GKC describes. We are called to be like St. George - heroes of holiness who do not run from the dragons we must face, but rather dive into the reality with full force aware that we do not rely on our own strength. “When I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor. 12:10)

From an essay of GKC’s, “The Red Angel” (found in Tremendous Trifles): Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already. Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.

This is not shared in reference to our global battle with the coronavirus, but is in fact much deeper and more important that even that very serious issue. The spiritual battle of our world, the work of establishing God’s kingdom in our world in a culture that often considers religion outdated, this is much more important, and has eternal consequences for souls.

Our Lady is an important part of this journey into the world. She knew her littleness, just as our patroness Thérèse did. Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) shows this beautifully: “He has looked upon the humble estate of His servant.” But if we say “yes” deeply with our lives, God will do amazing things through us.

St. Thérèse, the little flower in the garden of the world, pray for us to do our part in the story of God’s victory!