<html> <HEAD> <TITLE>Nermard St. Th&eacute;r&egrave;se</TITLE> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <LINK REL=STYLESHEET TYPE="text/css" HREF="site.css" TITLE="Style"> <csscriptdict import> <script src="GeneratedItems/CSScriptLib.js"></script> </csscriptdict> <csimport user="../Test2.data/Components/footer.html" occur="82"></csimport> </HEAD> <body bgcolor="#ffffff"> <div align="center" style="width: 928; height: 498"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="619"> <tr> <td><img src="images/portrait2.jpg" width="161" height="133" border="0" alt="Saint Th&eacute;r&egrave;se"><img border="0" src="images/Image1.jpg" width="431" height="136"></td> <td></td> <td> <div align="right"> &nbsp;</div> </td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="620"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#eeeeee" width="35" valign="top"><img src="images/side_rose.gif" width="35" height="200" border="0" alt="&quot;&quot;"></TD> <TD bgcolor="#eeeeee" valign="top" width="108"> <a href="Article%20Index.html"><font color="#800080"><b>Back</b></font></a><p>&nbsp;</TD> <td bgcolor="white" width="4">&nbsp;</TD> <TD valign="top" bgcolor="#ffffcc" width="415"> <div align="center"> &nbsp;</div> <div align="center"> <p class="MsoTitle"> <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt">KNOWING AND LOVING GOD¹</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">Our modern age has been granted an <i>Omen Novum</i>, a new star whereby to steer our course, and it is the purpose of this article to indicate how this <i>Omen Novum</i> can help us to fulfil our destiny.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">The Catechism gives us a clear, practical statement of this destiny:  God made us to know Him, love Him and serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in the next . The important thing is to bring home to ourselves the full meaning of this formula, and it is here that St. Thérèse can help us.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">We know from our Catechism that God is a Spirit, Three Persons, infinitely perfect, Creator of heaven and earth, and Sovereign Ruler of all created things; but this knowledge does not easily move our heart. It is the revelation that God is above all <i>Our Father</i> that touches our heart, and gives the spirituality of the New Testament its special quality; as we progress in the spiritual life, the Holy Spirit, through the gift of Piety, teaches us what this means as a living reality.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">However, we are not all drawn by the Holy Spirit to adopt exactly the same attitude to our Heavenly Father; some of us are drawn to one attribute rather than another and our service takes on a definite quality determined by our knowledge of Him, determined in fact, by that attribute to which we are most drawn.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">St. Thérèse s great mission was to open our eyes to our Heavenly Father s <i> Merciful Love.</i> Her intuitive gaze concentrated upon His Mercy, and she saw all His other attributes, Justice above all, radiant in its light.  What joy to think that God is just; that is to say, that He takes our weaknesses into consideration, that He thoroughly knows the frailty of our nature. Of what, then, should I be afraid? ²</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US"> I know that He cherished the Prodigal Son. I have heard His words to Mary Magdalene, to the adulteress, to the Samaritan woman. No one could frighten me, for <i>I know what to believe concerning His Merciful Love.</i> ³</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">She would have us know this Merciful Love; she longed to reveal it to all  little souls , for our first step towards fulfilling our destiny is to <i>know</i> Him whom we seek, and we do not know God until we know his mercy; until we know that Merciful Love which longs to forgive the sinner, which is never discouraged, but is ready to forgive seventy times seven.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">Since God is our Merciful Father, His dealings with us are permeated by a Fatherly and Merciful Love, while our service must be the service of love rendered to a Merciful Father; and loving Him here, we fit ourselves to love Him hereafter.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">But what must we do to love God? Loving God is not, of course, a question of sentiment; it must prove itself in action, and here again St. Thérèse comes to our aid; to love God is, she tells us, <i>to try to please Him</i>.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">To try to please God means to perform all our actions with purity of intention; our intentions must be purely to please our Heavenly Father; but how may we put this purity of intention into effect?&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"> <span lang="FR" style="font-size: 10.0pt">¹ From <i> Le Phare de Lisieux</i> by R.P. Bernard, O.P.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"> <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt">²<i>Autobiography</i>, chap. viii.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"> <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt">³<i> Autobiography</i>, chap. ix.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">First of all, it is obvious that this purity presupposes a state of grace, but granted this state of grace, our purity of intention may be assessed by applying the following test to our actions:</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -36.0pt; margin-left: 54.0pt"> <span lang="EN-US">(i)<span style="font:7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Are we doing them <i>for God?</i></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -36.0pt; margin-left: 54.0pt"> <span lang="EN-US">(ii)<span style="font:7.0pt &quot;Times New Roman&quot;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Are we doing them in such a way that they will be <i>pleasing to God?</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">In practice, it is both necessary and sufficient if, as often as possible  during our morning prayers, for example  and when we think of it during the day  we renew our intention of living for God, placing our hearts at the service of Him who dwells in us. Thus our most commonplace action will become a living prayer which increases our love and our power over the heart of Our Lord, for it is only fitting that He should grace those who seek to please Him.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">The <i>simplicity</i> of this approach has immense advantages: many of us who are of goodwill, yet always busy, find ourselves saying  I would like to lead a holy life, but <i>I really haven t the time</i>. I am so busy with my own affairs, a thousand and one everyday cares. How can I be expected to think of God all day, or spend hours in church saying the Rosary and making the Stations of the Cross? </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">Excellent as these devotions are in themselves, happily they are not indispensable; our devotions are not the substance of our holiness, and our everyday cares are not obstacles to leading a holy life; they can and must be the means whereby we practise active, living prayer. The purity of our intention gives them a supernatural significance; it transforms into gold our most ordinary activities.  To pick up a pin for love may save a soul , says St. Thérèse, and St. John of the Cross assures us that  the smallest action prompted by pure love is more valuable than all other works. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">We must put everyday duties, the duties of our state, before any optional acts of devotion, but we must perform these duties for love of the Merciful Father who imposes them; this will give our actions a filial quality, and because performed for a Merciful Father, they will be performed with the  freedom of the Children of God .</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">When we know God as our Merciful Father, it is not so difficult to love and serve Him, for from our knowledge will spring <i>a desire to please Him</i>.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">To please God, St. Thérèse explains further, is  to submit oneself to His will ; it is to accept His will as our ruling guide because He is our Father, and to do His will, we must both <i>follow</i> and <i>accept</i> it.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">(i)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>To follow His will</i> is to follow the dictates of our conscience, which is for every one of us the personal interpreter of His will; we ask ourselves sincerely:  What does He want me to do? The Holy Spirit in the depths of our soul will suggest the answer if only we listen, and He will inspire us to act with filial love.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">(ii)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>To accept the will of God</i> is to accept everything that happens to us, everything that does not depend upon our own initiative or lie within our power; we must see in all these things the permissive will of our Father, who could have prevented them, yet allows them to happen. Nothing can make us afraid, for in all that happens we see the hand of our Merciful Father.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">Since we are doing the will of a loving Father, all must be well; we allow our hearts to expand with confidence, we abandon ourselves to Him, loving all He asks and all He does.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 8.0pt">&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN-US">&nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">This holy abandonment is the highest wisdom to which we can attain on earth; nothing can bring us more peace, and it is a peace that nothing can take away from us. Established in this peace we can put aside all anxiety and worry, our one concern the duty of the present moment, our simple prayer:  Lead me! &nbsp;</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US">Let us not think that this is easy; we are at the heart of the simplicity of the <i>Little Way, the Way of Childhood</i>, which has nothing childish about it save the name.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"> <span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt">R.P. Bernard, O.P.</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt"> (<i>Sicut Parvuli Oct. 1967</i></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Times New Roman">&nbsp;vol. xxix no. 4)</span></p> &nbsp;</div> <div align="center"> <p>&nbsp;</div> <div align="center"> &nbsp;</div> </TD> </TR> <tr> <td colspan="2"><img src="images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="&quot;&quot;" hspace="74"></td> <td width="4"></td> <td width="415"><img src="images/spacer.gif" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="&quot;&quot;" hspace="205"></td> </tr> </table> <hr noshade width="620"> <csobj w="650" h="25" t="Component" csref="../Test2.data/Components/footer.html" occur="82"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="620"> <tr> <td> <div align="center"> <h4><a href="Default.asp">Home</a> | <a href="local.html">Tour Schedule</a> | <a href="about.html">About Th&eacute;r&egrave;se</a> | <a href="gallery.html">Gallery</a> | <a href="organisers.html">The Organisers</a> | <a href="contact.html">Contact Us</a></h4> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </csobj><br> <p></p> </div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </body> </html>