St Therese

 

  In a nut- shell Therese tells each of us - you are God’s precious child. He delights in you. You are the apple of His eye.  Have boundless confidence in  your merciful loving Abba Father.  Dare to  hope. That same power which raised Jesus from the dead  is working in you too.  Nourish your life on the Scriptures. Be love in the heart of the church and the world..

  But Therese, tell us again how you came by this wisdom at a time when God was seen as a stern judge. Your Mother died of breast cancer when you were only 4 and  the life nearly went out of you with grief and loss. Your sisters became your little mothers but you were still fragile and lost. “God would have to work a little miracle to make me grow up. I was really unbearable because of my extreme touchiness. It was Christmas night of 1886 that I received the grace of my complete conversion…He made me a fisher of souls. I felt charity enter into my soul and the need to forget myself and please others: since then, I’ve been happy."

 A year later you knocked on the door of Carmel to enter with one dream in your heart. I wanted to love …to love Jesus with a passion giving him a thousand proofs of my love. I came to Carmel to save souls and to pray  for priests.

 But with the passage of time Therese, you came to realize that to love Jesus as He loved you was beyond you.  God  would have to do it in you. “Instead of becoming discouraged I said to myself: God cannot inspire unrealizable desires. I can then in  spite of my littleness aspire to holiness” You searched the scriptures for your answer and the whole mystery of God’s mercy came toppling in over you. God gives himself to the little ones, the poor in spirit. He comes down to lift us up. Being Love itself he is drawn to the helpless.. Having nothing I shall receive  everything from God. You found your little way.

 God worked marvels for you Therese in your life and ever since. You kept your promise - “ I will come down… I will spend my Heaven doing good on earth”.

 On your feast-day this year please send healing and peace to all who call on  you.

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