Not long before she died—at only twenty-four years old—Thérèse told one of the sisters in the monastery, “I wish to spend my Heaven in doing good on earth.” And that is what she has done! It was the example of her earthly life, along with her intercession now in heaven, that moved Pope Pius XI to name her one of the patron saints of missionaries.

Hidden, Little, and Weak. This month, we are pleased to have author and retreat leader Fr. Jacques Philippe guiding us in the “little way” that St. Thérèse practiced. Thérèse so wanted to be a saint, but like all of us, she found it hard to climb the “ladder of holiness.” But she wrote, “Instead of getting discouraged, I said to myself: ‘God could not inspire us with desires that were unrealizable, so despite my littleness I can aspire to holiness.’” And as Fr. Jacques tells us, “God was going to console her, telling her, ‘Don’t be discouraged by your weaknesses. . . . It is precisely through your weaknesses, in your poverty, that I will act with my power; what you can’t do with your own strength, I will do.’”

This message is for us as well. We want to be holy, but we can struggle every day to live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Sin, weakness, and hurts can cling to us so tightly that they convince us that holiness is nearly impossible. But it is in seeing our littleness and weakness that we come to learn that God is our only strength.

In the “Banality” of Daily Life. In another passage, Thérèse said, “I have always stayed little.” Fr. Jacques explains that she didn’t strive for “extraordinary feats of grandiose deeds that everyone would admire.” Instead, she sought to please God “in little things,” in the “banality” of her daily life. And for the most part, other than a few nuns, very few people actually knew Thérèse. But with those few, she looked for “every opportunity of showing simple signs of love, . . . not to accumulate merits or rise above other people, but for love, to please God as a child seeks to please her father.”

We, too, spend so much of our time doing unremarkable tasks that, for the most part, go unnoticed. That’s the “banality of daily life” that Thérèse was talking about. That’s what she chose as her path to holiness, and this can be our path to the Lord as well! So this month, I invite you to follow her example and “seek to please God in little things.” As you do, you can be transformed into the very image of Christ. And when your life here comes to an end, may you join her in spending eternity in heaven doing good here on earth!

Jeff Smith,
President
[email protected]