{"id":27696,"date":"2026-10-02T10:07:05","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T14:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27696"},"modified":"2026-10-02T10:24:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T14:24:35","slug":"therese-of-lisieux-the-way-of-love-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27696","title":{"rendered":"Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of Lisieux: The Way of Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Child of Grace (Th\u00e9r\u00e8se) \/\/ Lyric Video\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rQggtU3ijNA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Visit from Th\u00e9r\u00e8se<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Friday, October 2, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard shares an experience he had while on pilgrimage to the convent where Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of Lisieux lived:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our small group of five visited the infirmary where Th\u00e9r\u00e8se died. I stood nearest the window. I could see the black hole in the bushes that Th\u00e9r\u00e8se likened to her own soul when she was in pain, dying of tuberculosis, and trying to believe that Jesus still loved her. The sister guiding our tour was telling us the story of Th\u00e9r\u00e8se\u2019s death when she suddenly paused and said, \u201cWe have a visitor!\u201d The way she said it, we all got goose bumps!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We followed the sister\u2019s gaze and saw by the window a beautiful orange and yellow butterfly. It was only April 3, way too early for butterflies in northern France. She said, \u201cLet it out, let it out!\u201d Since I was closest to the window, I tried to open the latch, but I didn\u2019t understand how it worked and just kept struggling with it. All of a sudden, I felt as though I were levitating. I had to look down at my feet to make sure I was still on the ground. I was definitely standing there, but I felt such ecstatic feelings of presence, joy, love, and power. All the blood seemed to flow out of my head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The sister could only see me from behind. She asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong? Open the window. The butterfly wants out! The butterfly wants out!\u201d I finally got the window open, and the butterfly flew away. I turned around and the others said my face was white. \u201cWhat just happened?\u201d I asked, even though I knew I had just been visited. I don\u2019t know how else to say it: Th\u00e9r\u00e8se was there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before she died, Th\u00e9r\u00e8se promised to spend her heaven doing good on earth. [1] Whether we believe in miracles of the saints or not, it seems like everybody who loves Th\u00e9r\u00e8se has some miraculous story. She gets involved in our lives. I think she is present in millions of lives. <strong>There is something beautiful happening <\/strong>t<strong>hrough this woman who said she wanted to perfect \u201cthe science of love.\u201d [<\/strong>2]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My own experience in her convent felt like an affirmation of what I truly believe and what has been a lot of my message. <strong>The little way is the spirituality of imperfection; we come to God not by doing it right, but by doing it wrong.<\/strong> <strong>It\u2019s not a matter of doing great things.<\/strong> <strong>Whenever we act in conscious love, this is the little way<\/strong>. A<strong>nd I think whatever we do in conscious union and love is prayer.<\/strong> So many of our Catholic saints are examples of heroic martyrdom; the message they give is, \u201cIf I am perfect, then God will love me.\u201d Because I was so programmed to think that way, I really needed to be released from that pursuit of perfection. Thank God both Th\u00e9r\u00e8se and Francis of Assisi did that for me! \u202f<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>__________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John Chaffee 5 On Friday<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>1.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211; <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thomas_Merton\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Thomas Merton, Trappist Monk and Activist<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is an important thing to remember as someone who leans toward introversion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Starting in college, I tried my hardest to be extraverted&#8230; &nbsp;So much so that I ended up winning Homecoming King my senior year. &nbsp;Goodness, that is wild to think about. &nbsp;The problem was that it was not fully or truthfully who I was&#8230; but I didn&#8217;t know it then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following college was 20 years of working in church jobs that demanded a kind of extraversion or social mode of being. &nbsp;I would leave events and feel utterly exhausted, oftentimes taking naps before waking up to get myself a dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was somewhere in the last 8 years when I realized that all of it was to teach me to have a healthy rhythm and balance between solitude and community. &nbsp;<strong>When one is overdone to the exclusion of the other, we can get rather bent out of shape.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In some respects, I had to learn that my need for solitude was not a result of anti-social behavior while also learning that just being in front of crowds did not mean I necessarily had community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If love is our true identity, then it can only be found after solitude shows me my true self, and that true self is seen and celebrated by a community (not a crowd) of other true selves who also wish to be seen and celebrated.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>2.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;To be spiritual is to be a breathing being\u2026the opposite of spiritual is not secular\u2026it\u2019s suffocation.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211; <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.padraigotuama.com\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Padraig o Tauma, Irish Poet-Theologian<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had the good fortune of meeting Padraig a few years ago at St. Joseph&#8217;s University near Philly. &nbsp;He was stateside doing poetry readings and it was delightful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>There is something about the arts that does a better job, in my opinion, than theo-logic at describing God\/faith\/the spiritual life\/death\/etc. &nbsp;Poetry just seems to unlock something within me in a way that other disciplines do not.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>3.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;By learning you will teach, by teaching you will understand.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211; <\/strong><a><strong>Latin Proverb<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let&#8217;s be honest, many of us do not fully understand something until we accidentally find ourselves having to teach it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The teaching itself unlocks different aspects of what we thought we learned and we come to understand it on a completely new level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Now, I can say that I thought I understood Christianity but that is not the full picture.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, after living enough of life and having to teach it in a classroom setting where students can push back, debate, or dialogue about it, I admit to have learned so very much by being a teacher of it. &nbsp;Sure, giving sermons is good and fine but that is still in a monological mode of delivery (at least in white churches).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And, I do not doubt that there is still an infinite amount more for me to learn by teaching. &nbsp;If anything, teaching has helped me in my own formation more than I can probably comprehend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>4.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, \u201cSon, your sins are forgiven.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211; <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Mark%202%3A1-12&amp;version=NIV\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Mark 2:5<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This story has shown itself to me a few times over the past two weeks and I do not know why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There must be some alchemy, some teaching, some wisdom about it that is beckoning to be learned\/integrated by some deeper level within myself. &nbsp;After all, the stories that grip us, grip us for a reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The setting here in Mark 2 is that there is a paralytic who wants to be healed by Jesus, but there is a large crowd that is obscuring or blocking the way. &nbsp;There is no statement that the paralytic man has faith at all, only that his friends have faith. &nbsp;The friends then conspire to bust a hole in the ceiling and lower their friend down into the crowded room to where Jesus is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In essence, someone who cannot help themselves is helped by those around him and Christ allows the one without faith to be the beneficiary of the others who do.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Honestly, this story walks all over the lines we commonly draw.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Perhaps that is why we chose to record this story for future generations after it happened.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>5.<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;The church of Christ ecumenically embraces the whole inhabited earth. She is not a tribal religion, nor a Western religion, nor a white religion, but the church of all humanity.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8211; <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/J%C3%BCrgen_Moltmann\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Jurgen Moltmann, German Theologian<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jurgen Moltmann passed away this week on June 3rd at 98 years old. &nbsp;He is considered an important voice in the world of Christian theology. &nbsp;Why? &nbsp;Because he was one of the first theologians to seriously engage theology in the aftermath of WWII.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a 16-year-old German, he was forcefully drafted into the German army in 1943 and became disillusioned with nationalism, violence, and war. &nbsp;Then, he was kept as a POW for several years after the war during which he was gifted a copy of the New Testament. &nbsp;This eventually paved the way for him to study Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Jurgen Moltmann&#8217;s book The Crucified God shook me. &nbsp;It takes up the topic of God in a way that continues to inspire me. &nbsp;Moltmann&#8217;s thesis in that book was that God is not Aristotelian (omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent) in the way that we conventionally think. &nbsp;No, that understanding of God is incompatible with Jesus, who suffered and was able to be affected by the world around him.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than standing at an impassible and unchanging distance, the Christian God enters into pain, suffering, and death with the Creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In light of the concentration camps, brutalities of war, and the death toll of the Holocaust, Moltmann&#8217;s contribution to the world of theology was like a fresh breath of co-suffering love and hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This past week on the internet I have seen nothing but positive statements about this pastor-theologian, who seems to have been as quality of a person as was his contributions to theology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have any chance today, look up <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Crucified-God-Jurgen-Moltmann\/dp\/150640295X\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1VXTQMJ6N1KQP&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.fbLBLXElNowsuVLZ8APTuiDp0o63oS9g6bn6JQ1gR_dhVYkGNly3RTSSpPAxzhKMKg1zLFMsRUlB8vRpCwEN5j6923Ts_fC5mxum9dNXcWKq4wqd--v-pUunSF2sDQht5HrsSKd1eOVstbgDtl2I7w.EBNrmkwg870Jx9YXAMGwfynNux_5izm67dxYddF1E0Q&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=the+crucified+god+by+j%C3%BCrgen+moltmann&amp;qid=1717766813&amp;sprefix=the+crucified+God%2Caps%2C84&amp;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\">The Crucified God<\/a>, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Theology-Hope-Jurgen-Moltmann\/dp\/0800628241\/ref=pd_bxgy_thbs_d_sccl_1\/132-0679454-9847147?pd_rd_w=24mJO&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.c51e3ad7-b551-4b1a-b43c-3cf69addb649&amp;pf_rd_p=c51e3ad7-b551-4b1a-b43c-3cf69addb649&amp;pf_rd_r=JVY6247H5CH7HQTH2KZ0&amp;pd_rd_wg=JTM7b&amp;pd_rd_r=1b1e0478-a43f-4c4b-90d6-cc499c7ecbf9&amp;pd_rd_i=0800628241&amp;psc=1\" target=\"_blank\">Theology of Hope<\/a>, or <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Church-Power-Spirit-Contribution-Ecclesiology\/dp\/0800628217\/ref=pd_scr_dp_alt2_d_d_sccl_3_3\/132-0679454-9847147?pd_rd_w=2Qupi&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.a617f5aa-6b6e-4a37-8086-11cda78381d6&amp;pf_rd_p=a617f5aa-6b6e-4a37-8086-11cda78381d6&amp;pf_rd_r=MR0SS3581GCD45SBW8C1&amp;pd_rd_wg=w0p8E&amp;pd_rd_r=1a1da333-4051-4d9b-af74-0ef7a31edd32&amp;pd_rd_i=0800628217&amp;psc=1\" target=\"_blank\">The Church in the Power of the Spirit<\/a>. \u00a0They are considered his most influential pieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>_______________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>James Finley <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cac.org\/themes\/therese-of-lisieux-the-way-of-love\/\">Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of Lisieux: The Way of Love<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Childlike Nature<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Then children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them, but Jesus said, \u201cLet the children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.\u201d \u2014Matthew 19:13\u201314<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>James Finley unpacks how Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of Lisieux understood our calling to be like \u201clittle children\u201d:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Th\u00e9r\u00e8se entered the monastery at fifteen, and she began her novitiate a few months later, which means she took the habit of a cloistered Carmelite sister. She took the devotional name of Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Th\u00e9r\u00e8se\u2019s emphasis on childhood and the child Jesus in her teaching doesn\u2019t at all suggest that we\u2019re not to mature into adults but rather see that there are certain childlike qualities that are the essence of spiritual maturity<\/strong>. How can we, as adults, cultivate these childlike qualities as a way to deepen our experience and response to God\u2019s presence in our life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T<strong>h\u00e9r\u00e8se writes in her autobiography, \u201cJesus deigned to show me the road that leads to this Divine Furnace, and this road is the <em>surrender<\/em> of a little child who sleeps without fear in its father\u2019s arms.\u201d<\/strong> [1] She calls it a divine furnace\u2014and other mystics speak this way as well\u2014so that we imagine a red-hot stove. You put a drop of water on the stove and it vanishes. <strong>This is such a deep love and complete trust that all fear vanishes. <\/strong>We\u2019re infinitely loved by God and held by God in an infinite love that completely <strong>and utterly transcends any source of fear, any source of sadness.<\/strong> The child is like an infant in complete trust and safety, sound asleep in the arms of God. We\u2019re resting in the midst of a fear, in the midst of the sadness, but we\u2019re grounded in this love that transcends the fear and transcends the sadness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s our eternal destiny: an eternal oneness with the eternal love of God as the beloved. For Th\u00e9r\u00e8se, the way we enter into this mystery experientially is to accept it. But we have to accept it as a small child accepts. It\u2019s good for us to try to accept it, but as long as we\u2019re <em>trying<\/em> to accept it, we\u2019re not yet accepting the way a child accepts. When parents love their child, the child doesn\u2019t try to accept that they\u2019re loved. The child is loved because children are acts of acceptance in our midst. That\u2019s what makes children so disarming, and it\u2019s what makes child abuse so painful and deep\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It seems to me that the question in response to Th\u00e9r\u00e8se\u2019s teaching is: <strong>\u201cHow can we learn to go beyond <\/strong>t<strong>rying to an act of acceptance?\u201d I think this is why Th\u00e9r\u00e8se\u2019s spiritual path is called \u201cthe little way.\u201d It\u2019s not a big, overwhelming experience. It\u2019s about calibrating our hearts to such subtlety that the sovereignty of this love is realized within us.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Visit from Th\u00e9r\u00e8se Friday, October 2, 2026 Father Richard shares an experience he had while on pilgrimage to the convent where Th\u00e9r\u00e8se of Lisieux lived: Our small group of five visited the infirmary where Th\u00e9r\u00e8se died. I stood nearest the window. I could see the black hole in the bushes that Th\u00e9r\u00e8se likened to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27696"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27696"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27701,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27696\/revisions\/27701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}