By Sister Mary Scholastica, O.C.D.
St. Thérèse’s feast day is right around the corner. For those who do not know her, she is a saint of our times. Often, we think of saints as people who lived a long time ago. People who received extraordinary graces. People who are “holy”, which can’t possibly be relatable to me. Wrong. St. Thérèse would be the first person to tell you that you’re wrong!
St. Thérèse is a saint of our times because she loved. She embraced every moment of her life and tried to infuse LOVE into every one of her thoughts, words and actions. Her “little way” is simply to live the ordinary moments of life wholly out of love. The person who irritates you, love them. The task at hand, do it out of love for your neighbor, for God. Physical suffering, endure it for love of God and the salvation of souls. An inconvenience, a great opportunity to get over oneself and love. Imagine living your entire life in this manner, with this outlook on life, especially amidst the interior battle we experience when the externals of life war up against our natural preferences, feelings, likes and dislikes.
She did not live perfectly. Thérèse was VERY imperfect, and she lived imperfectly. This depth of understanding of her imperfections and our Heavenly Father’s delight in her as she was, made her the great saint she would ultimately become. She trusted in His loving providence and threw herself in His arms time and time again, as a trusting child would to any loving parent. Beautiful.
Here are a few quotes from Thérèse…food for the soul. May she be your companion in this life journey of ours transforming every ordinary, mundane act into a great act of love. Trust in the merciful love of our Heavenly Father to sustain and carry us as we journey closer to our eternal homeland of Heaven.
“Love is repaid by love alone.”
“Let us go forward in peace, our eyes upon heaven, the only one goal of our labors.”
“Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing.”
“True, there may be infidelities, yet Love knows how to turn all things to profit, quickly consuming everything that might displease Jesus, and leaving at the bottom of one’s heart nothing but deep and humble peace.”
“Believe me; don’t wait until tomorrow to begin becoming a saint.”
“To love means to give everything and to give oneself.”
“Let us see life as it really is…It is a moment between two eternities…”
“We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can / namely, surrender our will and fulfill God’s will in us.”
