Lent chooses itself.
I have said this more than once, and each year my conviction of the truth of this statement is confirmed.
I do my best to plan my Lenten practices and sacrifices. However, when Ash Wednesday rolls around, it becomes apparent that Our Lord has something different in mind for me. And it is always something I need.
This year, I unexpectedly found myself on a plane on Ash Wednesday, headed to Chicago to help my daughter for a few days. This occurred right after I heard Sister Miriam James Heidland on one of my favorite podcasts, “Abiding Together,” (besides “Ruminations on Formation,” of course!!). Sister Miriam was saying that “time” is one of the best Lenten sacrifices. To offer your time to another, whether for a needed conversation, physical assistance, or just companionship, is a great gift and a great offering.
Another gift of time that has been asked of me this Lent is that of teaching seventh grade math. This was also an unexpected development, but as always, Our Lord knows best, and I am thoroughly enjoying being with the students in the classroom again. God is good.
Also, unexpectedly, I am following the Abiding Together podcast’s Lenten book study, The Way of Trust and Love: A Retreat Guided by St. Therese of Lisieux, written by Father Jacques Philippe. I am a great fan of Father Jacques, so this really appealed to me, even though I had already made other plans for Lent.
Most of us are familiar with Saint Therese and her Little Way of Holiness. Therese believed God would not have given her a desire for holiness if He did not intend for her to achieve it, no matter how little and limited she was. She learned to humbly accept herself as she was and trust completely in God’s love.
The type of trust Therese exhibited is nothing less than extraordinary. Hers was a radical dependence on God for everything. Therese recognized her inability to become holy on her own because of her littleness and her imperfections. She felt that her desire for holiness was unrealizable; that it was as far from her as a high mountain was from a grain of sand. But Therese came to understand that her “defects did not displease God and her littleness attracted God’s love, just as a father is moved by the weakness of his children and loves them still more as soon as he sees their good will and sincere love.” (The Way of Trust and Love)
The root of Therese’s Little Way is to cultivate in ourselves attitudes that will move God to help us progress little by little towards holiness.
Reading this stopped me in my tracks.
Drawing God to ourselves by the attitude of our hearts and souls?
When I think of what it means to progress in holiness, I think of sacrifice, dying to self, practicing virtue. But drawing God to myself to allow him to help me? Radical.
The two basic elements of Therese’s child-like “littleness” are humility and trust. Humility allows us to peacefully accept our weakness and inner poverty, for if we accept ourselves as we are, we accept God’s love for us. Also, if we can accept our own limitations, it will be easier for us to accept other people as they are.
Here’s another gem from Father Jacques: “Often, quite simply, we can’t get along with other people because we can’t get along with ourselves.”
We may be tempted to question whether accepting our weaknesses in this way is akin to complacency, or even spiritual laziness. This is not the case. Therese had an insatiable desire for holiness, but recognized that she couldn’t get there on her own. The “elevator” she was looking for took the form of absolute humility in accepting herself as she was, and utter trust that God would meet her in her littleness and lift her to himself.
It is quite extraordinary that this 24 year old girl, who lived her adult life in a convent, was declared a Doctor of the Church. But after encountering more and more of her simple yet profound wisdom, I am not surprised.
Father Jacques and Therese give us much to ponder for these remaining days of Lent. – Mrs. Lisa Sweet, Academic Dean
