The little things

Today is the feast of St. Therese of Lisieux, a Doctor of the Church. If there is one saint I am most jealous of their way of life, I would say it is the simplicity of St. Therese. As Jesus stated to his disciples two Sundays ago from the Gospel of Mark,  "If anyone wishes to be first, 

he shall be the last of all and the servant of all."

Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
"Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,receives not me but the One who sent me."

and then again he brings forth this theme of children yesterday, 

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neckand he were thrown into the sea."

Jesus wants us to realize how valued innocence is. The Lord wants to take care of us. He wants us to come to Him as little children! Parents love to be needed, and so our Father desires more than anything to have you need Him and want to be with Him. St. Therese realized this, and she lived her life as if she were a child who needed to be cared for, a child who could do very little on her own. How did someone who was so simple become a Doctor of the Church? I think because her Spirituality was so basic that it drove home how we truly are supposed to be in our relationship with God. He wants to be our all in all, but He gives us that choice. Therese chose to follow God not by doing some drastic preaching or not by a super intense lifestyle, but by living every moment for God and as a child does, enjoying all around them and doing all that they know how to do -- love. 

I was going to do an individual blog on innocence, but as I see how well this ties into doing the little things, and with St. Therese of Lisieux's feast day, I think I will just bring some of the innocence into this one. Innocence is so beautiful. When I realize the things I find humorous now versus the things I found humorous when I was 12, the difference is tremendous, and I wish I could go back to the days of innocence.

So why do I (and why should you) have this attraction to innocence? It all goes back to Adam and Eve; they are in perfect bliss, completely taken care of by their Father, and nothing could be better -- but then they eat the fruit and "gain knowledge." So to me, innocence is what we lost when we started to sin. Innocence is the absence of sin. Innocence is the easiest way to Heaven! How can God find fault in a baby? How can God find fault in a toddler? He can't! And the only reason we do is because of sin. 

When I think of the things that most make me smile, I think of my childhood and I think of children. Through innocence I find true joy! And I realize the things that humor me, usually crude humor (to a certain degree), does not bring a true smile to my face and does not satisfy my heart, just my mind. My heart is warmed through true innocence. An example I would like to reminisce upon was the other day at mass when I saw this little boy, maybe 5 or 6 years old, who was altar serving. And as the Eucharistic prayer began and he was kneeling down, I saw him repeating all the words as the priest said them. Then he began to imitate all the things the priest did, holding his hands the same way the priest did. He had no intention of mocking the priest, he was just in awe at him and wanted to be like him. This innocence stunned me and stole my heart. I wished I was 5 again! 

St. Therese was someone who was able to live innocent and pure as a child just by abandoning her will to God's will. By allowing for the Father to be like a human father who guards and protects the innocence of his daughter, his little princess, Therese was able to love in a small way, but that way was in actuality an extraordinary way, and it has led her to be known as a Doctor of the Church. So as St. Therese once said, 

"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." 

She became a saint by the little things and by her innocence. Let us love by serving each other, even if it is purely in the smallest of ways.

And although this blog is sort of on St. Therese, I cannot avoid placing a quote from most likely my favorite saint (at least in terms of his wisdom and utmost desire for constant conversion), because it just fit so well into this blog:

Everything in which we poor men have a part – even holiness – is a fabric of small trifles which, depending upon one’s intention, can form a magnificent tapestry of heroism or of degradation, of virtues or of sins.

The epic legends always relate extraordinary adventures, but never fail to mix them with homely details about the hero. – May you always attach great importance to the little things. This is the way!

” - St. Josemaria Escriva, The Way, #826

On Arrogance

I am so arrogant that I oversee my own to judge others on theirs. There was a guy I know (not because we are friends, but purely because of how small Franciscan is) and his girlfriend sitting behind me in mass today. Well, he is a guy who, in my own opinion, knows he can sing and so sings, what seems to me (and here is my judgment and oversight of my own arrogance), way louder than anyone else to hear himself sing. I also was bothered by the fact that he was giving his girlfriend a massage in mass (honestly, though, that can wait) and they were talking the whole time. And so as I tried my hardest to avoid irritation from the situation and leave it up to him and God, I couldn’t help but judge him. Once mass was over, which by the end I had just barely stolen away about half of the time to actually contemplate the sacrifice of Christ and pay attention, I had to figure out how I could avoid those judgments. It comes down to the fact that I AM EXACTLY THE SAME. My shortcomings became so apparent. I love the sound of my own voice (at least on a good day), and I will belt a little bit louder than the guy next to me or behind me so I can hear my own voice (which I seem to think is better) over his. I am the same. I also talk during mass. Maybe not about massages, but I so often have no other choice (ha-ha) then to mention that someone is wearing something funny or a child is adorable (ok, they are, but it can wait). Where is my focus? I am the one compromising it usually. Or even on a silent level, I daydream. My mind wanders so easily. Why do I have the right to blame so-and-so for distracting me in mass, or having some fault that I notice in them?

Now this is not just a mass time thing; I am arrogant and self-righteous so often and so often do I overlook it in myself and place judgments on others. Another example: Someone joked with me that I should date their sister, and me being a creep (it is so easy with facebook) I searched her on facebook. I saw a picture of her with a cigarette, and although I do not hate smoking I do not smoke myself and I am not the biggest fan of others smoking, and so I was a lot more prone to think ok no she is not my type. She also was very fashionable and so my mind immediately thought “she is probably high maintenance.” Maybe she is! Maybe she isn’t! Who cares? I don’t know, because I tell myself I don’t. I tell myself that I don’t judge, that I love everyone and give each his equal chance. I wish it were true. But I guess what I learn from these moments in my life is that I am not perfect (Eh. I am re-evaluating this as I write this, ha) and I have not just a few places in my life to work on, but many. I need to build my temple for the Lord, and the best way to do that is to daily be working on virtue. Yes, I am weak. Yes, I need God. Yes, “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.” But He doesn’t give me virtue – He gives me the graces to grow in virtue if I am willing to give Him that time to grow. He will make perfect my weaknesses; I cannot do that.

So here is to seeing our own faults. Here is to my own arrogance, and to the foresight to see it is a weakness I have and now that I have something to pray for the graces to improve in my life there and to grow in humility. Praise God for common sense. Praise God for His mercy and grace!

Blessed are the poor in spirit

The title of my blog is blessed are the poor in spirit, in Latin. Why did I choose this title? Because what better mentality to have when the object of my blog is to discuss sainthood, and little tidbits of my own thoughts on how to reach that goal. To get to heaven, we must seek it out daily. I am hoping my posts will help instill in some of you who read it this desire for constant conversion (a topic I will very soon touch upon).


So what is being poor in spirit? To be "poor in spirit" does not mean to have little faith, or to give up our soul (which is the way some might misinterpret because of how it is worded). To be poor in spirit means to be detached from all those things that hinder our spirit from being one with Christ, to be focused completely on Him. 


"Poverty of spirit is the actual and voluntary detachment from all that disorderly occupies our hearts, the space that belongs only to God. It is an emptying of all that opposes the interior freedom that the consecrated soul should have in order to freely be willing to follow the Lord’s will wherever He leads her. Poverty of spirit is the internal attitude needed for the practical execution of the vow of poverty." - Mother Adela, SCTJM


Now, she talks from the perspective of a religious, but in terms of a worldly individual, one not as of yet consecrated to any specific vocation, what does being poor in spirit call us to? In my own estimation, I would say that, in a certain sense, it is speaking of giving ourselves completely to the will of God. We must pray, "Lord, what is it that you want me to do? How can I serve you?" We must not have selfish desires! We must deny our spirit the things of this world that will bring it down and keep God from being able to use us for His Divine Plan. To attain everything in Heaven, we must deny everything here. It is the paradox that is God, that is eternal life! Now, I would say that this does not mean you need to go give away all your worldly goods, but it means you must be detached. If God takes anything out of your life, even family, you must realize it is because it is not necessary for the rest of your journey to heaven. People come and go; and God gives us the opportunity to see Christ in them, as well as to show them Christ; but we must not be attached even to these people, because even people can pull us away from our mission. You can love a person too much, so much that you fall from the path God has set for you because you seek to follow that person and give them everything. Give them everything by giving them Christ! Let go when the time comes. Never did Christ say it would be easy to follow Him, but why attempt to if you are not willing to do any and everything for Him? 


Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven!