Saint Therese, the little Carmelite Saint who conquered the minds of the millions of people in the modern world, is an open book for all to learn. “Saint Therese of Lisieux lived the faith at its most heroic, as the light in the shadows that invade the soul” (Pope Benedict XVI). She herself expressed in her autobiography: “It is sufficient to acknowledge one’s nothingness and to abandon oneself like a child to God’s arms.” Even after the onset of severe ailment and the trial of interior darkness, she could show her ardent desire and sincere fidelity to her “Little Way” of confidence and love. Her simplicity and absolute trust in the love of God is the midpoint of her spirituality. God desires an infinite faith in Him, one that truly believes that God has our best interest in mind, and will not harm us. This trust means that we can put all worry and anxiety away, and just do what pleases our Father in heaven.
The Gospel according to St. Matthew speaks of one who humbles himself before God and becomes like a little child. Jesus says, he is the one who will be the greatest in the kingdom of God. A total surrender to the will of God and fully depend on the me mercy of the Lord, like a little child, made St. Theresa the most fascinating saint of the modern world. The core of her spirituality was: “Jesus does not so much look at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.” Saint Therese, like so many saints, sought to serve others, to do something outside herself, to forget herself in quiet acts of love. She is one of the great examples of the gospel paradox that we gain our life by losing it, and that the seed that falls to the ground must die in order to live. We must re-learn to forget ourselves, to contemplate a God who draws us out of ourselves, and to serve others as the ultimate expression of selfhood. These are the insights of Saint Therese, and they are more valid today than ever.
