By: Maria Nolla (Wichita TEC)
On October 1st, we celebrate the feast day of a wonderful saint, St. Therese of Lisieux. She is the patron saint of the TEC Conference. On January 2, we celebrate her birthday! Known for her ‘Little Way’ to follow Jesus, St. Therese is a beautiful model of humility and selfless love of others. On October 19th, 1997, she was named the youngest doctor of the Catholic Church by Pope St. John Paul the Great. Her “doctrine of charity” exemplifies doing little things like keeping your patience with someone somewhat annoying, doing little acts of kindness without hoping for anything in return, and always trying to see Christ in everyone.
“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love." -St. Therese of Lisieux
In an age that is encouraging selfishness through the guise of ‘self-love’ and ‘living your own truth’, St. Therese’s Little Way is needed now more than ever. We are encouraged by the world to avoid pain and suffering, no matter how miniscule, at all costs, to turn to sin instead of God, to seek pleasure over anything else, yet when we follow this advice, we are left empty, alone, and unhappy. The Little Way shows us how to offer up our pain and suffering for others with a smile, to always remember that God should be our main focus, and to seek to be as little and unknown as possible for our good deeds. These teachings perfectly mirror Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew: “[But] take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father” (Matt 6:9).
As part of the TEC community, we are called to offer ‘wheat’, which mirrors the Little Way, for candidates across the nation. A lot of great examples of wheat are: saying 5 rosaries every day, giving up music in the car, not using a kneeler for a month, drinking nothing but water, and the list goes on. These are all small, somewhat insignificant things, but they have such a huge impact on those that the wheat is offered up for in beautiful ways that we could never imagine. So in a selfish world, remain insignificant, and do good in small ways, for the Lord will reward you beyond belief.
