Episode Transcript  

One

Flower or Fighter

Today is the feast of Therese the Little Flower. Honestly, I have a hard time relating to a flower. 

Hans Urs von Balthasar, possibly the greatest theologian in the 20th century, wrote a wonderful book on two great Carmelite saints, Therese and Elizabeth of the Trinity, called Two Sisters in the Spirit. There Von Balthasar says Therese had the heart of a Warrior, she was a fighter. Now I can relate to that. In fact, Jesus said that, “The Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by storm.” 

This warrior spirit of Therese explains her love for Joan of Arc. She writes, “When I began to learn the history of France, the story of Joan of Arc’s exploits entranced me; I felt in my heart the desire and the courage to imitate her; it seemed to me that the Lord meant me for great things too. I was not mistaken, but, in place of voices from heaven calling me to war, I heard in the depths of my soul a voice sweeter, more powerful still, the voice of Jesus calling me to other conquests more glorious…I realized that my mission was not to get a mortal king crowned but to get the King of heaven loved and to bring the realm of hearts under his sway.”

Two

Gratitude and Surrender 

Here lies the key to Thérèse’s power as a spiritual warrior. She teaches that “Jesus does not ask for great deeds, but only for gratitude and self-surrender.”

For Thérèse, gratitude means recognizing everything as God’s gift and rejoicing even in our littleness and limitations. Self-surrender means doing what love asks of us in each moment, while entrusting every outcome, our weaknesses, failures, and successes, entirely to God’s mercy. Both together make up her childlike trust. What seems like surrender is in fact the most powerful form of combat. Thérèse fights by refusing to rely on her own strength, choosing instead to let God fight in her and through her.

Three

Surrender 

What keeps most of us from becoming saints is that we fight in the wrong way. We fight against God. Therese shows us a better way. She said, “I choose it all!” Whenever God allowed something in her life she did not choose, did not like, or could not change, she did not fight against it, she made the choice to choose what she had not chosen. God, if this is what you want, then I also choose it.  This doesn’t change the situation, but it does change us. And it enables God to draw good out of everything that happens to us, whether good or bad. 

St. Maximilian Kolbe writes, “A cross consists of two pieces of wood, crossed at one point. In everyday life, our cross consists in our will crossing the will of God. In order to remove it, it is necessary to conform ourselves to the will of God.”

Four

The Practice 

Surrendering to God is not giving up. I am a fighter and I will never give up. True surrender is the most active choice of all: it means I stop fighting against God and start cooperating with Him. It means letting Him work through people and events beyond my control, while I give my whole effort to what He asks of me.

This is how we fight: By doing the duty right in front of us. By enduring the suffering He allows. By receiving the joys He gives. By waiting patiently when He alone must act. This is the battle plan, not resistance, but wholehearted cooperation with God’s will.

Five

The Secret 

Here is the most powerful way to fight – let the All-Powerful God do the fighting for you. This is the secret of the Little Way of St Therese. 

“I have always wanted to be a saint. Alas! I have always noticed that when I compared myself to the saints, there is between them  and me the same difference that exists between a mountain whose summit is lost in the clouds and the obscure grain of sand trampled underfoot by passers-by. Instead of becoming discouraged, I said to myself: God cannot inspire unrealizable desires. I can, then, in spite of my littleness, aspire to holiness… But I want to seek out a means of going to heaven by a little way, a way that is very straight, very short, and totally new…We are living now in an age of inventions, and we no longer have to take the trouble of climbing stairs, for, in the homes of the rich, an elevator has replaced these very successfully. I wanted to find an elevator which would raise me to Jesus, for I am too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection. I searched, then, in the Scriptures for some sign of this elevator, the object of my desires, and I read these words coming from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: “Whoever is a LITTLE ONE, let him come to me.” And so I succeeded. I felt I had found what I was looking for. … The elevator which must raise me to heaven is Your arms, O Jesus! And for this I had no need to grow up, but rather I had to remain little and become this more and more.”

This is the Little Way. Thérèse fought like a warrior by remaining little, knowing every good thing comes from God, by choosing what God allowed, and by letting God lift her. And in that littleness, she conquered.

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