She had this great desire but how did she achieve it? Unlike St. Francis Xavier, she did not have the opportunity to go to a far-off land to offer her life to proclaim the gospel. However, her great desire for God and for evangelization made her seize every opportunity to grow in holiness and in mission. She took every little event in her cloistered life as a stepping stone for growing towards God. She was like the three young men in the furnace who could call upon everything to praise God. St. Teresa of Lisieux used her daily ordinary experiences as stones to build her holiness.
There is a Chinese idiom which goes like this, “drops of water can pierce through a stone”. The power and effect of a drop of water is insignificant but when the little power and effect of drops of water accumulate for a long time. Its power and effect will be seen.
Like St. Teresa of the Child Jesus, let us cultivate in us the holy desire for God and for holiness. And let us also be sensitive and use every small event in our daily life to grow in holiness.
Also, in Psalm 121, the psalmist expressed his joy on entering Jerusalem, the dwelling place of God. However, the psalmist was aware that the dwelling place of God was not always at peace. That is why he said, “for the peace of Jerusalem pray: ‘Peace be to your homes! May peace reign in your walls, in your palaces, peace’”.
Even when St. Teresa was still very young, she aspired to enter the Carmelite monastery where God also dwells. She applied for the entrance but was refused because she was too young. With special permission sought from the pope with her father’s help, she was accepted. She was very joyful for this. However, when she entered the monastery, she found that the place was not full of roses but there were also thorns coming from her fellow sisters because of human weakness. What did she do? She did not run away by coming out. Like the first antiphon expressed, she kept herself chaste. She was single-minded and single-hearted. She put her trust in God and built herself upon the rock of Christ. In this way, she found peace in her despite the sometimes turbulences in the community. Because her dependence on God, she not only found peace in her but also got strength to say, “For love of my brethren and friends I say: ‘Peace upon you!’” “For love of the house of the Lord I will ask for your good”.
Let us learn from St. Teresa to put our trust in God, depend on him and be single-minded despite the difficulties we sometimes experience in our community. And let us be like her, for love of the house of God, pray for the good of each other.
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Stay tuned for the next post by Bro Samuel Lim on 15th Oct 2009.
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