Dreaming of a better world? Follow this advice of Saint Teresa of Lisieux
You want to build vast projects, change your life and your family's life, maybe even the world, but don't know how to do it? Let yourself be guided by Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus.
On the last page of the last notebook she writes, Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus makes a remark that should not go unnoticed. This remark is all the more precious because Sister Therese, exhausted, draws her from the depths of her energy. She has just said that she asks Jesus to draw him into his love as the iron chip is attracted to the magnet. Then meditating on the Gospel of Martha and Mary, she admires Mary's attitude at the feet of the Lord who "listens to her sweet and fiery word."
Therese notes: " (This), all the saints understood this and especially perhaps those who filled the universe with the enlightenment of evangelical doctrine. Is it not in prayer that Saints Paul, Augustine, John of the Cross, Thomas Aquinas, Francis, Dominica and so many other illustrious friends of God have drawn this divine science that delights the greatest geniuses? ». It was prayer that allowed them to do great things.
The key to the success of major projects is...
"The Almighty has given as a point of support: he and himself," says Saint Teresa of Lisieux. As leverage, he gave the prayer, which ignites with love. And that is how we can lift the world. Thus the saints still militant raise it and until the end of the world the saints to come will also lift it."
But how do we achieve these big projects? Saint Teresa gives the key to success: we must rely on prayer! In other words, the more you want to do, the more you have to dive into what will make you feel like you are doing nothing: praying. The more you want to act, the more you have to rest in God. The more you are in a hurry, the more urgent it is to take time with the Lord.
Fervor gives the prayer its flavour
But be careful not to forget to pray with fervor! He who puts fervor in his prayer, besides the happiness he has to spend so with "the one who loves us", experiences that without him he can do nothing, for he draws from him his strength. He learns, in silence, that there is no point in running the world or building great projects, if he has not first taken the time to defer to the one without whom nothing is possible.
Often, what is missing from those who embark on great projects is the fervor in prayer and perseverance in action. For fervor gives prayer this intensity without which it risks becoming obligation without taste, soulless routine, or worse, downtime. Fervor gives heart to prayer. It makes prayer an indispensable breath, an act of faith, a moment of happiness. Without it, there is a high risk of giving up prayer because no one likes to bother praying, no one wants to waste their time. Fervor is one of the faces of the love we have for the Lord. It is she who urges us to go and contemplate him in prayer, to worship him and to defer to him, so that he may show us his will.
In prayer, the courage is drawn to face dangers and face the future, which is always uncertain. Saint Teresa wanted to change the world, and she succeeded better than others. She did not make any big speeches about the need to change structures. It did not have a committee to consider what we would do if something were done. She plunged into the heart of the Lord, deep down. She responded to her love. She loved him. In the little things of everyday life that was hers, she put all her love, this love from which she drew strength in prayer. She put equal fervor in praying to the Lord and loving her sisters.
That is the road she is showing us. We mustn't leave her. Driving too fast, you risk missing the crossroads and losing your life without realizing the dreams of your youth. One thing to ask the Lord: fervor in prayer. The rest is given more.
On the last page of the last notebook she writes, Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus makes a remark that should not go unnoticed. This remark is all the more precious because Sister Therese, exhausted, draws her from the depths of her energy. She has just said that she asks Jesus to draw him into his love as the iron chip is attracted to the magnet. Then meditating on the Gospel of Martha and Mary, she admires Mary's attitude at the feet of the Lord who "listens to her sweet and fiery word."
Therese notes: " (This), all the saints understood this and especially perhaps those who filled the universe with the enlightenment of evangelical doctrine. Is it not in prayer that Saints Paul, Augustine, John of the Cross, Thomas Aquinas, Francis, Dominica and so many other illustrious friends of God have drawn this divine science that delights the greatest geniuses? ». It was prayer that allowed them to do great things.
The key to the success of major projects is...
"The Almighty has given as a point of support: he and himself," says Saint Teresa of Lisieux. As leverage, he gave the prayer, which ignites with love. And that is how we can lift the world. Thus the saints still militant raise it and until the end of the world the saints to come will also lift it."
But how do we achieve these big projects? Saint Teresa gives the key to success: we must rely on prayer! In other words, the more you want to do, the more you have to dive into what will make you feel like you are doing nothing: praying. The more you want to act, the more you have to rest in God. The more you are in a hurry, the more urgent it is to take time with the Lord.
Fervor gives the prayer its flavour
But be careful not to forget to pray with fervor! He who puts fervor in his prayer, besides the happiness he has to spend so with "the one who loves us", experiences that without him he can do nothing, for he draws from him his strength. He learns, in silence, that there is no point in running the world or building great projects, if he has not first taken the time to defer to the one without whom nothing is possible.
Often, what is missing from those who embark on great projects is the fervor in prayer and perseverance in action. For fervor gives prayer this intensity without which it risks becoming obligation without taste, soulless routine, or worse, downtime. Fervor gives heart to prayer. It makes prayer an indispensable breath, an act of faith, a moment of happiness. Without it, there is a high risk of giving up prayer because no one likes to bother praying, no one wants to waste their time. Fervor is one of the faces of the love we have for the Lord. It is she who urges us to go and contemplate him in prayer, to worship him and to defer to him, so that he may show us his will.
In prayer, the courage is drawn to face dangers and face the future, which is always uncertain. Saint Teresa wanted to change the world, and she succeeded better than others. She did not make any big speeches about the need to change structures. It did not have a committee to consider what we would do if something were done. She plunged into the heart of the Lord, deep down. She responded to her love. She loved him. In the little things of everyday life that was hers, she put all her love, this love from which she drew strength in prayer. She put equal fervor in praying to the Lord and loving her sisters.
That is the road she is showing us. We mustn't leave her. Driving too fast, you risk missing the crossroads and losing your life without realizing the dreams of your youth. One thing to ask the Lord: fervor in prayer. The rest is given more.
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