On Tuesday, I posted a quote on our Facebook page from St. Therese’s autobiography for her feast day in the new calendar but I didn’t get a chance to actually do a post. So, I’m doing it today, which is her feast day in the old calendar.
St. Therese is known for her Little Way, or her method of showing love for God by making small sacrifices every day for Him. In short, doing small things with great love. We often feel like we can’t do things for God because we aren’t in the “right” place or situation and our state in life is holding us back. But remember, God has a specific plan for each of us and so we must start by doing the things, however small they may seem, that we can do in our lives to sacrifice for God and others.
In her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, St. Therese writes of her desire to be a part of all of the Church’s members (e.g. apostles, prophets, teachers, etc.). She often said that she also wished to be a soldier and a missionary. And she couldn’t see her dreams being fulfilled in the solitude of the Carmelite monastery. But, she continues, she sought counsel in the Epistles of St. Paul and she discovered that all of these things were nothing without Love. This prompted her to realize and to cry out that “my vocation is Love!” (pp. 193-94). She finally understood that Christ had called her to the monastery, not to take away these things from her, but to be the very heart and support of them, which is Love. And what does that consist of? Sacrifice and prayer.
When we feel like our circumstances or state in life prohibit us from doing great things for Christ and His Church, let us remember St. Therese and call on her to help us do what we can do with great love and charity toward God and our neighbor, always fortified by sacrifice and prayer.
St. Therese of Lisieux, ora pro nobis!
Lumen Fidei Ministries 