Encountering God's Love and Mercy in the Ordinary (with tips from St. Thérèse and more)

The Little Way was a method St. Thérèse used to live an ordinary life with great love. She is often quoted as having said, “My vocation is LOVE”, to be love in the church, and despite being under the “lock and key” of the cloistered Carmelite monastery in Lisieux, she became the patron saint of Missions.

So, what did little Thérèse mean by her “Little Way”? Thérèse often described herself as little, and oftentimes, one can imagine how she must have felt it very much, having entered Carmel at the tender age of 15. However, her consolation was in this scripture verse, in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14). This was a great source of comfort to St. Thérèse. Inspired by this verse of Scripture, she discovered what we know today as “spiritual childhood”.

What is “spiritual childhood”? To be like a child. Childlike, but not childish. To abandon oneself in total surrender to God, in complete trust, as a child sleeps in their father’s arms without worry. This is exactly what St. Thérèse wrote about. She gave us some tips on how we can achieve this total abandonment to God:

• Focus on God’s mercy, being confident in His mercy and unconditional love for you. Despite our imperfections, know that God already knows, and with His grace, trusting in His mercy and love, there is hope to aspire to a life of holiness nevertheless.
• Surrender everything to God, knowing that all comes from God, and that if He had not given it to us, we would not have it, so let Him be the one to guide us and lead us.
• Be grateful to all God has blessed us with. There are an endless number of things we could be grateful for - food, shelter, clothes, a job, education, friends, family, internet access etc.
• And with these (the above), be humble, for it is in humility that we can learn to be like a little child running into the Father’s arms.

However, it is interesting to note that the above can only be achieved through an authentic encounter of the Love of God, without which, knowing the above is practically useless.

So, one might ask, how can we encounter God? Firstly, we must establish who God is. Your image of God shapes and defines how you live your life, and what you translate as “love” to others. Such that, how you love God determines how you love others. Thus, the first step in encountering God is understand who He is to us.

Secondly, once we have established that God is a loving Father, merciful, compassionate, and who loves us unconditionally, we can begin to understand how to encounter Him. Encounters begin with building a relationship, If we do not establish a relationship with someone, how could we possibly encounter them? We must start by talking to them, to establish the conversation and relationship. How do you talk to God? Through prayer. (If you don’t know how to pray or what prayer is, see my Lenten article.

Once we have established a relationship with God, learn humility. St. Thérèse would often call herself “unworthy” in the eyes of God, yet she recognized His great love and mercy. Surrender all to God in a total abandonment of self, of worldly concerns and possessions, and be grateful for all the blessings He has bestowed upon you. Then, as a little child, trust in God’s mercy and be confident in knowing He loves you unconditionally.

The above will take time, and is a gradual process, but it is important to remember that St.Thérèse was just an ordinary little girl who aspired greatly to be holy in her current duties of life. As God would have it, she was called to a Religious vocation in the Carmelite monastery of Lisieux, but remember that we all can aspire to holiness in whatever state of life we are living in - singlehood, marriage, religious life, or priesthood. It is only by God’s grace that we can truly encounter Him, and His love and mercy, but as St.Thérèse did, we can all learn to trust like a child who sleeps in total peace and serenity in the Father’s arms.

In the end, we must remember that it is not about deserving, but about charity, to love, to see each and every person as a child of God, as our brother and sister in Christ. Only in seeing Christ in each other can we encounter God here on Earth. This is the starting point, to learn patience and bear with each other in our imperfections, remembering that they too bear with us. Then, slowly, as we aspire towards holiness, trusting in God’s mercy, we may come to a closer union to Christ, because we have been told,“whatever you did for the least of my brothers, you did it for me” (Matthew 25:40). If not for love, what are we even doing living this life?