The Epilogue: The Drama of Saint Thérèse's Life

The Christian life is a journey that unfolds toward the Father with the support of the grace of the Son of God, insofar as we are in need of the help necessary to sustain us along the way.

The Christian Journey and the Drama of Sin

Sin, both that which we commit and that which others commit, tempts us toward evil; indeed, it solidifies into structures that condition us and attempt to pervert us.

These are constant, sometimes violent and diabolical aggressions that threaten our condition as children of God.

In this drama we traverse the time of our lives, and therefore we must pray and work so that the Lord may grant us the miracle of holiness, namely the daily discovery of not being able to do without Jesus, of having no other love but Him.

The Final Months and the Total Offering

Thérèse, in her terrible passion during the last months of her life, made her most tender professions of love and trust toward God, because she learned to know Him as Father and to entrust herself confidently and persistently to His hand, despite the darkness of suffering.

God sometimes asks of His most beloved children the highest, most difficult, yet dearest task to His Fatherly heart, namely to offer oneself for the salvation of one's brothers and sisters.

Thérèse said yes, a complete yes, on behalf of all of us.

With her yes, Thérèse threw herself completely into the arms of God, the only One who could totally and eternally love her.

Thérèse: Teacher of Spirituality and Doctrine

Thérèse's experience is disconcerting.

She was not understood by her sisters, who softened her message. She was not comprehended by readers who, enchanted by "Story of a Soul," imagined a somewhat soft and easy holiness. At the beatification process, the heroism of her virtues was doubted, so ordinary did her way seem.

Thérèse transmits her message with disarming language; she does not use abstract terms, and undoubtedly she is not only a great saint but also a great teacher of spirituality and doctrine.

Hans von Balthasar spoke of "theological existence," inasmuch as her entire life demonstrated extraordinary truths in an essential way.

Thérèse feels she can reach with her love those in need. She perceives that she has a place in the Church, the same place occupied by the Lord, the place of Love that expands through all times and all places.

Love that makes Thérèse the missionary par excellence: she is convinced that "a soul inflamed with love cannot remain inactive."

Thérèse's Message Today

The world is saved on its knees; it is saved by those who decide to be like children.

Those who accept as a grace the discovery of their own limitations and transform them into greatness, into an invocation to the merciful and compassionate God. Those who experience that the Lord loves us because of our limitations? Those who make their own the expression of Saint Paul: "I put my strength in my weakness"?

Thérèse's spirituality lives on in those who feel her as sister and patroness and are capable of abandonment, of welcoming life as the earth welcomes the seed, and of waiting patiently for the colors of spring with the scents of the Easter season and the summer heat.

With the hope of knowing how to wait for clear skies and having the strength to smile at the storm that disrupts plans and creates damage.

With the continual willingness to welcome, wait, and accept the Mystery in total trust in the Lord.