Thérèse didn’t accomplish much before she died at the age of 24. However, her love, her wisdom, and her passion for life have much to teach us a lot to follow in our life.
There is only one thing to do here below: to love Jesus, to win souls for Him so that He may be loved. Let us seize with jealous care every least opportunity of self-sacrifice. Let us refuse Him nothing — He does so want our love.”
Catholic news.in shares three profound life lessons from Saint Therese.
- You can Capture People
You can impact more people than you imagine. It starts with the small things. Saint Francis Xavier and Saint Therese are known as the patron saints of the mission. Saint Francis Xavier traveled extensively including to Africa and Asia. He was one of the first missionaries to India and Japan. He helped convert thousands and thousands of people through his preaching of the Gospel. On the other hand, Saint Therese spent her whole life in a short corner of France. She didn’t travel anywhere preaching the Word of God. In fact, another nun was reported to have said of her after her death, “I cannot understand why people speak of Sister Thérèse as if she were a saint. She never does anything notable.”
Thérèse is recognized as the Patroness of Missions because of her fervent love of Jesus. She always asked and longed for the intercession of missionaries both while on earth and now in heaven, and her missionary heart for those who don’t know the love of Jesus.
“I have the vocation of the Apostles. I would like to travel over the whole earth to preach your Name and to plant your glorious cross on infidel soil. But…one mission alone would not be sufficient for me, I would want to preach the Gospel on all the five continents simultaneously and even to the most remote isles. I would be a missionary, not for a few years only, but from the beginning of creation until the consummation of the ages.” – St. Thérèse
Many of the missionaries are very much fond of Saint Therese of Lisieux. You can change the world by your little things and ideas unless you have greatness and achievements. The only thing you should do like St. Thérèse: love God and others through the little things.
2. Be Satisfied
We are never satisfied because God created us that way. He created us with a longing for him.
O my God, you have surpassed all my expectations.”- St. Thérèse
Oftentimes, in life, we can feel like we need more. “It” is not enough.
It can be:
• Money
• Friendships
• Social Media
• Or just about anything.
“It” is not always a sinful thing. It can even be something good like friendship or being with others. We always have a desire of getting more. We feel empty when others aren’t around.
Try to understand the simple life of Saint Therese. Things and people can point us towards him, but the minute we try to replace the creator with a created thing or someone else we are sure to be left feeling empty.
Taste and see how good God is, and you find like St. Thérèse, he will surpass all your expectations.
3. God Calls You to be a Great Saint
“You cannot be half a saint; you must be a whole saint or no saint at all.” and
“Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will, and being just what God wants us to be.” – St. Thérèse
Holiness seems like a distant, impossible task, but if that were the reality, God would be cruel. If he is loving, he would not tell us to be something we could not attain.
You need to believe that God is calling you to be a saint. Not a saint for tomorrow or when death is imminently knocking on your door. He is calling you to be a saint today.
We have had very few saints in the last five decades. So many holy men and women are needed to be the saints of today. We need to recommit ourselves to prayer, to the Holy Spirit, and the spreading of the Gospel.
St. Thérèse wasn’t content with being half a saint and I pray to you God to make me a full saint of today.