Reflections on the feast of St Therese of Liseaux

Tuesday of the Twenty-sixth week in Ordinary Time     1 October 2013
St. Therese of Lisieux, Virgin & Doctor of the Church (1873-1897)

“And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus’ garden. He willed to created great souls comparable to Lilies and roses, but He has created smaller ones and these must be content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God’s glances when He looks down at His feet. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be.” – Saint Therese of Lisieux[1]

This quote from Saint Therese of Lisieux’s autobiography, Story of a Soul, gives great comfort to struggling souls. When we look at the lives of so many saints, like Saint Maximilian Kolbe or Saint Ignatius of Antioch, we see such heroism that it is easy to be discouraged. Most of us will never suffer martyrdom, which usually strikes fear within our hearts. Yet, the “little flower” teaches us a different way, the “little way” of perfection which “consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be.” The “little way” is one in which some are called to be great “Lilies and roses” while others are called to be simple “daisies or violets.” Saint Therese shows that sanctity is possible to achieve as long as we follow God’s will and simply be what “He wills us to be.” In this post the “little way” of Saint Therese will be examined and encouragement will be offered to the soul who thinks he cannot attain sanctity. In the end, Saint Therese will demonstrate to the pilgrim soul, that it does not take heroic deeds to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but that perfection lies in being simple and trusting in God’s mercy.
The Beauty of a Garden
First, some are called to be great saints, while others are called to be simple.  Saint Therese compares the variety of souls in the world to flowers in a garden. She relates how the different flowers within a garden all contribute to its beauty. Also, she states that, “if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with the little wild flowers.”[2] Consequently, God desires to see great beauty when He looks down upon earth—the beauty found in a variety of souls. This is consoling, for it means that God does not require all souls to be identical. Rather, God is generous to both the great saints and the little souls, to whom He “lower[s] Himself” and shows His “infinite grandeur.”[3] He is like a gardener who cares for each flower and is “occupied…with each soul as though there were no others like it.”[4]
Saint Therese further expands upon this idea when she is struggling over what God is calling her to be. Saint Therese relates how she felt the “vocation of the WARRIOR, THE PRIEST, THE APOSTLE, THE DOCTOR, THE MARTYR.”[5] Yet, while she felt all these desires, that was not what God wanted from her. Instead, God wished her to be perfect in “doing His will.” What that consisted of was not the grand heroic deeds of the great martyrs and doctors of the Church. What God truly wanted from this “little flower” was to be “LOVE.”[6] She understood that “LOVE COMPRISED ALL VOCATIONS, THAT LOVE WAS EVERYTHING. THAT IT EMRACED ALL TIMES AND PLACES…IN A WORD, THAT IT WAS ETERNAL!”[7] At last Saint Therese discovered her vocation and so she “found [her] place in the Church.”[8] This is a great consolation as it shows that all are not called to be warriors or martyrs. Instead, we must all discover what God is calling us to be, which could be something simple, like the vocation of a husband or a teacher.  What matters is not the apparent “greatness” of the vocation, but that we accomplish what God asks of us. For Therese, God had asked her to be “love” in the “heart of the Church” and she fulfilled that vocation from the solitude of a little monastery in France.[9]
Weak Instruments
Lastly, it is important to know that in the “little way” Saint Therese is honest about her weaknesses, which gives strength to the soul who thinks he cannot become a saint. Saint Therese recounts that she is “far from being a saint,” because often she will be found sleeping “during [her] hours of prayer and [her] thanksgivings after Holy Communion.”[10] Yet, even amidst her weaknesses, she is able to surrender herself to God and present to Him those very shortcomings. In doing so, Saint Therese recognizes that true sanctity does not involve being free from every fault, but humbly admitting that we are “too little to perform great actions” and abandoning ourselves to the Infinite Mercy of God, becoming a “little Victim worthy of [His] LOVE!”[11] Thereby, instead of attaining Heaven by our own strength, like St. Therese, we beg our Father, “the Adorable Eagle [to] come fetch me, Your little bird, and ascending with it to the Furnace of Love, You will plunge it for all eternity into the burning Abyss of this Love to which it has offered itself as victim.”[12]
A “Little Way” For All
To conclude, Saint Therese of Lisieux’s “little way” is a path to perfection attainable by all. Instead of relying upon our own strength to attain Heaven, we allow God to work within our souls. In place of a desire to be a great saint and being disappointed, Saint Therese teaches the pilgrim soul to simply be “what He wills us to be.” In addition, the pilgrim soul should realize that to accomplish the will of God, it means discovering our place in His garden, being content to be a daisy or violet at the feet of the Gardener. In the end, the “little way” offers great consolation to the pilgrim soul suffering in this place of exile and is a sure path to sanctity for anyone who wishes to be immersed into the unfathomable abyss of God’s infinite love.

(copied from the website http://intothewest.mymiddleearth.com/2013/06/20/perfection/)

First Reading from the prophecy of Zechariah. 8:20-23.

Thus says the LORD of hosts: There shall yet come peoples, the inhabitants of many cities; and the inhabitants of one city shall approach those of another, and say, "Come! let us go to implore the favor of the LORD"; and, "I too will go to seek the LORD."
Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem and to implore the favor of the LORD.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: In those days ten men of every nationality, speaking different tongues, shall take hold, yes, take hold of every Jew by the edge of his garment and say, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."

Ps 87(86):1-3.4-5.6-7.

His foundation upon the holy mountains
the LORD loves:
The gates of Zion,
more than any dwelling of Jacob.
Glorious things are said of you,
O city of God!

I tell of Egypt and Babylon
among those who know the LORD;
Of Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia:
"This man was born there."
And of Zion they shall say:
“One and all were born in her;
And he who has established her
is the Most High LORD.”

They shall note, when the peoples are enrolled:
"This man was born there."
And all shall sing, in their festive dance:
"My home is within you."

Luke 9:51-56.

When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, He resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and He sent messengers ahead of Him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?"
Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.


Commentary of the day :

I was asked the question the other day, “Why don’t you give it back to all the detractors who have condemned you or spoken harshly about you?”

I recall these words of St Luke’s Gospel where the apostles feel the rejection of the Samaritan villagers and James and John feeling for Jesus ask, “Do you want us to kill them all?”

James and John knew that they had power over them and could destroy them if they wanted to, but Jesus rebuked them. “That’s not the right approach” I can imagine Him saying.

Some of the people who have been vociferous in their condemnations have been people who in the past I have helped. I have held their hands and felt their pain. I know their pasts and realize that they are still hurting. By my turning away from ministry in some way they feel I have turned my back on them.

I know I could just publicise their pain and tell about their shame and they would be destroyed. I could call down fire from Heaven to consume them. But that’s not the right way to behave if you are sincerely a disciple of Jesus. Jesus taught His disciples, “turn the other cheek” and “give away all you have”. Its hard and at times I feel some people don’t deserve it, but I remind myself that Jesus said, “Give mercy because the amount you measure out will be the amount you get back in return”.

It’s a worthwhile motive.

 

Vatican Council II
Declaration on the relations of the Church with non-christian religions « Nostra Aetate », §2-3

"Jesus turned and rebuked them"

The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in non-christian religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men. Indeed, she proclaims, and ever must proclaim Christ "the way, the truth, and the life" (Jn 14,6), in whom men may find the fullness of religious life, in whom God has reconciled all things to Himself (2Cor 5,18f.). The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men.

The Church regards with esteem also the Moslems. They adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth,(5) who has spoken to men; they take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even His inscrutable decrees, just as Abraham, with whom the faith of Islam takes pleasure in linking itself, submitted to God. Though they do not acknowledge Jesus as God, they revere Him as a prophet. They also honor Mary, His virgin Mother; at times they even call on her with devotion. In addition, they await the day of judgment when God will render their deserts to all those who have been raised up from the dead. Finally, they value the moral life and worship God especially through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.

Since in the course of centuries not a few quarrels and hostilities have arisen between Christians and Moslems, this sacred synod urges all to forget the past and to work sincerely for mutual understanding and to preserve as well as to promote together for the benefit of all mankind social justice and moral welfare, as well as peace and freedom.