St. Thérèse of Lisieux

One

Today is the Feast of Thérèse of Lisieux.

In her Diary she writes, “I have always wanted to be a saint. Alas! I have always noticed that when I compared myself to the saints, there is between them and me the same difference that exists between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and the obscure grain of sand trampled underfoot by passers-by. Instead of becoming discouraged, I said to myself: God cannot inspire unrealizable desires. I can, then, in spite of my littleness, aspire to holiness. It is impossible for me to be perfect, and so I must bear with myself such as I am with all my imperfections. But I want to seek out a means of going to heaven by a little way, a way that is very straight, very short, and totally new…We are living now in an age of inventions, and we no longer have to take the trouble of climbing stairs, for an elevator has replaced these very successfully. I wanted to find an elevator which would raise me to Jesus, for I am too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection. I searched, then, in the Scriptures for some sign of this elevator, the object of my desires, and I read these words coming from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: “Whoever is a LITTLE ONE, let him come to me.” And so I succeeded - I felt I had found what I was looking for. … The elevator which must raise me to heaven is Your arms, O Jesus! And for this I had no need to become perfect, but rather I had to remain little and become this more and more.”

Two

What is the little way?

Pope St. John Paul II declared Thérèse a universal doctor of the Church. That means her teaching will help everyone who wants to be a saint. That teaching is called the “Little Way.”

Well, what is the Little Way? 

The first step is to know who you are. You are not God. So, stop acting like it. That is pride. But don’t be offended, we all suffer from pride. Pride is simply to falsely think that we have been left on our own so we have to figure everything out and protect ourselves otherwise we will fail and die. We think and act as if everything depends on us, the weight of the world is on our shoulders, and that is crushing. 

This is a lie. We are not alone. God is our Father and He is Almighty.  Almighty means He works all things for good for those who love Him. God is your Father and that means that no matter what happens you will be okay. You are safe! The storm might rage in your life but Jesus is in the boat, he has everything under control. You are safe. 

Let’s make the decision right now to stop playing God and to turn our lives and our will unconditionally over to God.  

Are you ready to do that?

Three

Knowing that you are not God is only half of knowing who you are. 

The other half is this: you were made in the image of God and you are invited to share in His life as his son or daughter. God created the universe because he wanted to create you. And out of love for you, God wants to flood your soul with Himself. 

The Whole Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit want to live in you through faith and baptism so that by sharing their divine life you become divine with them. God wants you to co-exist with Him and share in His divine being. For that is what God does for those he loves, He raises you up to make you like Himself!

You are a child of the Father. This is your identity and your personal worth. No one can take that from you. And with God your Father, no matter what happens, you are safe!

John Paul II says this is the most authentic meaning of spiritual childhood.

Four

The little way is love in return.

Now that we know who we are, that we are not God but we are sons or daughters of God Most High, let’s take responsibility and start acting like it.

God the Father has made me his son. I share His divine life. My true home is Heaven. Wow – that is a lot to be grateful for. The question is, what can I do in return? Love Him. How? In little ways. Do all for the love of God. 

Begin each day this way: As soon as you wake up, before you roll out of bed make the morning offering, “Father, I give you my prayer, work, joy, and suffering of this day. I offer it for the love of you and for the salvation of souls.”

Then everything you do or endure that day is for the love of God. Then practice becoming more aware of His presence throughout the day. And as you remember Him, say, “Father, I do this for the love of you. I accept this for the love of you.”

In this way, we love God all day and with every part of our day. And it’s pretty hard to sin when we are actively loving God. 

Five

Once we share in God’s life, His divine being, then we can share in His divine activity. 

His greatest activity or work is the salvation of souls. 

God has given you his life and sent you on a rescue mission to save souls. You can actually help save the soul of your spouse, kids, friends, enemies, and even strangers by the Little Way.

You already started with “the Morning Offering” but renew it throughout the day by saying to Jesus, “I offer this prayer, this duty, this meeting, this red light, this difficult conversation, this delightful meal, this beautiful walk in the sun and trees, and especially, this suffering that I don’t like…Jesus, I accept and offer this to you to save souls.”

Because you share in the life of God you can share in the work of God and the work of God is saving souls. 

Worry, anger, and anxiety will not help your loved ones get to heaven and it might wreck your own soul. Instead, build the habit of offering every little thing to God to save souls. 

Jesus, I offer this to you – for souls.