The Little Way - Section 5 "Daily Practice" (Part 2)

This is the concluding post on St. Therese of Lisieux's "The Little Way". I'm devoting two posts to the fifth and final core element of the "little way" since it is the outflow and overflow of the first four elements. As you can see, when she talks of the little way, she really means it - all of her ways of serving, as seen in this fifth core element of "daily practice" were where she lived in the convent. As I wrote earlier in this series when introducing her, she lived only 24 years and did nothing more than  these simple little acts of love, and yet the impact of that has gone far and wide.

While most of us will not become well known for our small gestures and attitudes of love, we have in Therese an example of how God values the little things done with much love and we can be inspired by this young life to live close to Him and attentive to ways in which we can wash His feet by small acts of love wherever God has placed us. Often we look far and wide for ways to serve Jesus while missing the small acts of self-giving love that present themselves to us daily...

The following are more stories of how Therese expressed the love of God in her small world:

"Do everything to give pleasure to Jesus...I try to do everything to give pleasure to Our Lord...A spiritual feast of gentle joyful love is all I can set before my Sisters; I do not know of any other, and want to follow the example of St. Paul, rejoicing with all who rejoice. I know he wept with those who week, and my feasts are not always without their share of tears, but I always try to turn them into smiles, for 'the Lord loveth the cheerful giver'."

"Love others as Jesus loves them...Jesus made known His will to me at the Last Supper, when He gave His apostles His new commandment: 'Love one another as I have loved you' (Jn 13:34). I set to work to discover how Jesus had loved them. I found that He had not loved them for their natural qualities, for they were ignorant and taken up with earthly things, yet He called them His friends and His brothers and wanted to have them with Him in His Father's Kingdom; He was ready to die on the cross to make this possible...Meditating on these divine words, I saw only too well how very imperfect was my love for my Sisters; I did not really love them as Jesus loves them. I see now that true charity consists in bearing with the faults of those about us, never being surprised by their weaknesses, but edified at the least sign of virtue..."

"Offer the merits of others to Jesus...There was a certain nun who managed to irritate me in everything she did...Not wishing to give way to natural antipathy, I reminded myself that sentiments of charity were not enough; they must find expression, and I set myself to treat her as if I loved her best of all. I prayed for her whenever we met, and offered all her virtues and merits to God. I was sure that Jesus would be delighted at this, for artists always like to have their work praised...
I prayed earnestly for this Sister who had caused me such struggle, but this was not enough for me. I tried to do everything I possibly could for her, and when tempted to answer her sharply I hastened to give her a friendly smile, and talk about something else...
She said to me one day, her face radiant: 'What do you find so attractive in me? Whenever we meet you give me such a gracious smile.'  What attracted me? It was Jesus hidden in the depths of her soul, Jesus who makes attractive even what is most bitter."

"Love in adversity...For a long time I had to kneel during meditation near a Sister who could not stop fidgeting; if it was not with her rosary, it was with goodness know what else...I wanted to turn around and glare at the culprit to make her be quiet, but deep in my heart I felt that the best thing to do was to put up with it patiently for the love of God first of all, and also not to hurt her feelings...In the end I tried to find some way of bearing it peacefully and joyfully, at least in my inmost heart; then I even tried to like this wretched little noise. It was impossible not to hear it, so I turned my whole attention to listening really closely to it as if it were a magnificent concert, and spent the rest of the time offering it to Jesus..."