Dear Friends,

   This past Thursday (October 1) we celebrated the Memorial of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (Thérèse of Lisieux) — the Little Flower.

   Thérèse became a Carmelite nun at the very young age of 15 and died of tuberculosis when she was only 24. She lived a very simple and mostly hidden life. Her writings, and especially her spirituality of the “little way,” have made her one of the most beloved saints in the Church. In 1997, Pope St. John Paul II named her a Doctor of the Church.

   The “little way” is really very simple. Thérèse believed that we do not have to do great or extraordinary things to become holy. Most of us are called to become holy through the ordinary things of everyday life — doing them with love and offering them to God.

   But the little way should never be confused with the easy way. Following Jesus is never going to be easy!

   It can be much easier to do one big thing for God than to be patient with someone who annoys us every day. It can be easier to make a great sacrifice than to quietly accept the little inconveniences that come our way. It can be easier to talk about loving others than to actually love the person who is difficult to love.

   That is the little way: doing the small things with great love, trusting in God, and recognizing that even our weaknesses can lead us to depend more completely upon Him. And if you’re like me, you have many weaknesses to rely on to grow closer to God!

   Most of us will never do anything that the world considers extraordinary. St. Thérèse reminds us that we don’t have to. God gives us opportunities every day, usually very small ones, to love Him and to love one another.

   And perhaps those little things aren’t so little after all.

God bless,     

Fr. John