"Perfection consist in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be. "
- St Therese of Lisieux
In a number of ways, the world today seeks to rob us of our freedom. Beginning in our youth and continuing on into adulthood, we often find ourselves trying to be 'like the others.' How many people compare themselves with others and are unhappy with their size, their face, their abilities, their possessions... and the list goes on and on. This struggle to be who we are not or to be what others consider to be perfection is not only an oppressive slavery - it is a denial of reality.
The reality is that each of us is a unique creation of God and God did not intended us to be just like everyone else. St Therese of Lisieux explains this beautifully when she wrote in her Story of A Soul,
"... the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take
away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the
daisy. I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature
would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer
be decked out with little wild flowers.
And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus' garden. He willed to create
great souls comparable to Lilies and roses, but He has created
smaller ones and these must be content to be daisies or violets
destined to give joy to God's glances when He looks down at this feet.
Perfection consist in dong His will, in being what He wills us to be. "
So, let us all ask God, through the intercession of St Therese the Little Flower, to help us understand who He has created us to be. Let us ask Him to help us in doing His will as only we can in our individual lives.
The world will be deprived of your beauty if you don't live the reality of who you were created to be!
Quote taken from Story of A Soul, the Autobiography of St Therese of Lisieux, Third Edition, ICS Publications, Washington, DC, 1996.
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