“Jesus delights in showing me the only path that leads to that divine fire. That path is the surrender of the little child who falls asleep without fear in his father’s arms…” (St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus).
It is no coincidence that St. Thérèse of Lisieux is better known as Thérèse of the Child Jesus. She discovered and lived this spiritual childhood with great depth before God, understanding it as the path she was called to follow. And indeed, what a trusting relationship emerges here! How can one surrender more completely than by knowing one’s Father holds one in His arms? How deeply God longs for such a relationship with us! Even in the days of the Old Covenant, He spoke tenderly to His people. In the Book of Hosea, the Lord declares,
“Yet it was I who taught E′phraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of compassion, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.” (Hos. 11:3–4)
Saint Thérèse walked her path in the Carmelite Order with that childlike trust because she had encountered the infinite love of our Heavenly Father and knew how to draw upon it. Each time she placed her trust in Him, even in the most painful situations, her love for God grew.
Our Father takes great delight in that trust, which allows Him to fill us even more with the inexhaustible source of His love. With every act of trust, our hearts surrender and open so that our Heavenly Father can grant us all that He has prepared for us.
What Saint Thérèse put into practice is intended for each one of us. Trusting in our Father without limit will transform us. In the fire of His love, it will make us what we are called to be: the image and likeness of God.