TO EVERYTHING A SEASON:

Feast of Therese of Lisieux,  ¢â‚¬Å“The Little Flower ¢â‚¬ 

It is God within us who loves God. By ourselves, we do not know how or where to look for God. We don ¢â‚¬â„¢t even know what God looks like. We don ¢â‚¬â„¢t know what to think or if we should try to think at all.

God planted a little bit of God inside of us ¢â‚¬”we call it the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17), and from that place within us, like a homing device, God seeks and loves God ¢â‚¬”through us, toward us, within us, and from us. All we can do is allow this Spring inside us to well up (John 4:14) and flow through us. Go to this holy place within you. It is the only place big enough to allow you to encounter, hold, and bear the darkness that is a part of every life.

Among the many wise and lovely things that Therese taught us, she summed it up when she said,  ¢â‚¬Å“It all comes down to confidence and gratitude! ¢â‚¬  She called it her  ¢â‚¬Å“Little Way. ¢â‚¬  Therese has now been proclaimed a  ¢â‚¬Å“Doctor of the Church ¢â‚¬  and was largely an uneducated French girl who died at the age of 24!

From On the Threshold of Transformation: Daily Meditations for Men, p. 357

Richard Rohr