Following St. Thérèse’s little way

Maybe you’re the kind of person who does large, amazing tasks. You might have extraordinary strength and stamina and courage. Maybe your path to holiness is the kind that makes headlines—saving lives, inspiring transformation in communities, and leaving a lasting mark.

Or…maybe the work you are doing on earth happens in much quieter, smaller ways. Maybe the work that you do occurs more slowly and subtly.

Maybe instead of creating firework displays and magnificent revelations, you find yourself planting invisible seeds that you just hope will grow within hearts and minds.

Maybe your contributions feel less like they are moving mountains and more like the whisper of a butterfly’s wings.

Maybe some days the work you do doesn’t feel that it amounts to much at all.

But St. Thérèse of Lisieux would say that it is extremely important.

“Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God,” she said. “Do all that you do with love.”

During her life, St. Thérèse focused on living in her little way—embracing the small tasks in her daily life and the simple interactions with those around her and living a life of holiness. She admired St. Joan of Arc and had wanted to be a missionary. Instead, she died in a Carmelite Monastery when she was 24.

She did not travel the world or die a martyr. Instead, during her life, St. Thérèse immersed herself in the world that was right around her, finding sacrifice and spiritual strength in the people and experiences around her. That’s why she is so loved by so many.

“Holiness,” she said, “consists simply in doing God’s will and being just what God wants us to be.”

No matter what we face in life—whether our challenges are large or small, extraordinary or ordinary, seen or invisible—each of us has the opportunity to be like St. Thérèse.

In this pandemic time, when we can’t travel far or interact with all the people we want to be with, St. Thérèse can be a poignant source of inspiration. Her world may have been small, but her words and actions have touched thousands and thousands of hearts.

We don’t get to choose our path to holiness. But we get to choose how we walk that path.

“Use the gifts you have received,” she said, “and pass on the love that has been given to you.”

It’s the easiest thing in the world—and the most difficult. But we have a friend who may be able to help us along the way.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux, pray for us.

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