Gathered Roses

A Spiritual Journal: Reflections

from the Writings of St. Thérèse
of the Child Jesus.

By

Vince Justin Ido

For my Spiritual Sister
“Little Rose”
 “I will let fall a shower of roses”, this is St. Thérèse’s own
writings, she promised a shower of roses from heaven,
in which she wants us to gather it. Truly, she meant
that these roses are her prayers and her intercessions
and the graces she wants to share for us. But also her
message of love.
Every rose are the messages I gathered from her own
words and writings, the message of love and loveliness
of God. So, in this “Gathered Roses” are my reflections
about the messages that she herself showered for us.
The words that she herself had written in her
Autobiography, The Story of a Soul, and these are
“Gathered Roses” that I want to share with you.

May these roses I gathered inspire you.

The Gathered Roses metaphorically means the messages of
the writings of St. Thérèse which I gathered upon reading
her Autobiography, the Story of a Soul. These words that I
am going to reflect upon really struck me and leaves a
deeper message which is worth to be cherished. These roses
I gathered must be shared, as a devotee of the “little
flower”, my mission is also to share these messages of love;
the love of God for us. It is worth reflecting upon her
writings and to share it.
My reflections about her writings focuses on the love and
graces of God which he poured for us, the desire of
following the love himself, who is God, the answering his
call, which is to love and to live a life of virtue. For St.
Thérèse always teach us about love, her words will be my
inspiration of reflecting the blazing fire of love within us,
where God himself gave spark in it.

These roses I gathered will give a sweetest fragrance of love,

which sooths in the deepest heart. This is my little offering
for a special soul, whom I am praying for.
 I
“He has surrounded me with love all my life.”
Indeed, in the life of St. Thérèse, God has surrounded her life with
love, full of love. No one can deny the fact that she is loved by
God so tender, because she speaks the love of God, she desires of
dying in love and rejoicing in love. Now, she’s enjoying there in
heaven the eternal love of God, and she wanted to share it with us.
We may sometimes ask; are we being loved? How do we know
that we are loved? Does God really love us? Or is there really love?
We ask a thousand questions about it. When we try to ask
someone about it, sometimes we are being ridiculed for asking
such questions. Or sometimes if we philosophized these things
with other people, they will regard us as insane or absurd for that
matter. So that’s why, in my case, I prefer to reflect upon it and
write it down rather than receive a nonsense response from other
people.
What does it imply for us? When I try to ask something about
love, I cannot refrain from thinking about God, and when there is
God, there will always be his graces, and from there I see love
itself. God has surrounded us with love all our life, in everything
we have; our life, the people around us, everything in this world is
solely the love of God. Even every time we breathe is the
manifestation of God’s love, we are created by God because of his
love, and even creating this world to preserve our life. As if, the
portion or the content of everything we see, even our life is full of
love.
From His love, there come his graces, which we are now enjoying,
which we have already. All the graces are summed up in love.
Reflecting upon it, I have seen God’s love very visible especially in
the people around me. My family, to those who are sacrificing for
my education, isn’t it love? For those who are supporting me, my
friends. This community I have now, with my formators and my
fellow brothers, who are always here for me, as we sail together in
this journey of formation. Of course, you who is always praying
for me, who offers a simple act of love through a little prayer, but I
always acknowledge it as a great love for me.
Everything is summed up in love, and St. Thérèse is always
teaching us to acknowledge that everything is grace whereas
everything is but love. For the beginning of all is love, who is God.
All goodness we received from others, through the people around
us, even the single act of kindness is always the manifestation of
God’s love. Hence, these reflections that I am sharing with you are
my way of expressing the love of God, and why do I share this
especially with you? Simply, because of love, because of my love
for you. But prior to this, because I myself felt that love from you,
the love of God is present, and he is showing it through you as his
instrument of love.
So, if we ask, are we being loved? How do we know that we are
loved? Does God really love us? Or is there really love? Always
remember the words of the “little flower”, “He has surrounded me
with love all my life.” Surely, if we acknowledge that everything is
love, we will know the answers to our questions about seeking the
meaning of love.
 II
“God would always carry me like a little child…”
How God loves a little child, whom he gives favor. God looks
tenderly on a little child, always securing safety and well-being. For
a little child is precious in the eyes of God. God has surrounded
his love for a little child, and he will always carry, caress and
embrace those who are like little children. Jesus himself has said
“Let the children come to me” (Mk.10:14), it is how precious the child
is in the eyes of God.
We are children of God, and he is looking tenderly on us. Prior to
everything, he loved us first and from there, it did not end, until
forever he will continue to love us. God himself will carry us,
making us feel his love which suffices all. St. Thérèse would always
tell us about the spirituality of “Child-likeness”. Being a child which
means making our soul like a little child.
A child is always amused of everything, seeing things with wonder,
and always grateful for everything he or she has. It is the virtue
that St. Thérèse wants us to follow, to be amused with everything,
to be grateful, and to see all things as a given grace of God. She
wrote these inspiring words, “Everything is grace because everything is
God’s gift, whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events-to the heart
that loves, all is well.”
Our life is really like a little child who is always receiving
everything without complaints from a parent. Because a little child
trusts that whatever a little child received from a parent is always
for the good. Like what Jesus said, “Would any of you who are fathers
give your son a stone when he asks for bread? Or would you give him a snake
when he asks for a fish?” (Mt. 7:9-10). Indeed, what the parent gives
to his child is good. Similarly, with our God, what he gives is
always good, and not only he gives, but he pours everything for us.
That’s what a little child does, he receives and receives everything,
and there is always a wonder and amusement, seeing all things to
be good; all things to be grace out of love.
Being a child, he or she always depends on the help of his or her
parent. Like a child, we are all taught to be dependent only on
God. Dependent on his love, trusting that everything will go well,
because we have him, who is omnipotent, and we cannot do
anything without him. I know that we are all ought to rely
everything in God, who is grace and love himself.
As a child, he or she is humble and it is the reason why God loves
a little child; his or her littleness. St. Thérèse would always consider
that humility is the queen of all virtues. Through humility we are
acknowledging our weakness, our frailties and incapability.
Humility is also showing our emptiness and with our emptiness, it
is where God wants to fill everything in us, like a child who is
lavished by the grace of God. Jesus also wanted us to follow him,
as he said “…learn from me, because I am gentle and humble of heart…”
(Mt. 11:29). He is showing us to follow the littleness of a child, to
be humble, for it is pleasing to God’s eyes, and he looks with favor
to those who are like little children.
As a child, he or she is humble and it is the reason why God loves
a little child; his or her littleness. St. Thérèse would always consider
that humility is the queen of all virtues. Through humility we are
acknowledging our weakness, our frailties and incapability.
Humility is also showing our emptiness and with our emptiness, it
is where God wants to fill everything in us, like a child who is
lavished by the grace of God. Jesus also wanted to us to follow
him, as he said “…learn from me, because I am gentle and humble of
heart…” (Mt. 11:29). He is showing us to follow the littleness of a
child, to be humble, for it is pleasing to God’s eyes, and he looks
with favor to those who are like little children.

III
“I know that I was loved, not only by those on earth, but those in
Heaven too.”
It is comforting for me to see these words of St. Thérèse, she is
talking about the omnipresence of love. Indeed love is present
everywhere, love is present here on earth how much more in
heaven where God dwells, who is love himself.
Here, I could think about sorting these different faces of love; here
on earth and on heaven. Although, I know that love in its totality
is coming from God alone, but I would like to reflect upon it in a
glimpse of a philosophical way.
Here on earth, love is very common, may it be a love of a family, a
friend, partners or anything which is about love. The way I see and
observe things today, it seems love has been distorted or reduces
into something conditional or sometimes equaled to material or in
a need of a flesh. It is not supposed to ne the meaning of love, but
it is the reality of the world today. St. Augustine would say about
“disordered love”. In my realizations, it really is that man is prone to
distort love, because man in itself is limited, finite, and full of
imperfections and cannot love fully. But we as man has also have
this capacity of loving, which I regard ad a redeeming factor. I can
still see a hope that there is still a “true love” which a man can
manifest nevertheless of being limited. That’s why, even on earth,
there is still a manifestation of love which we can see and feel.
God himself is infinite, perfect and it is where all goodness come
from. Including, especially this love. The love of God is by nature
is in it fullness pure, unsurpassable, unfathomable, inexhaustible
love. Eternal it is, without any flaws, it is love in its fullness, in
short, the truest and origin of all love. As I reflect upon it, it is as
if, the love of God is as big as a gallon of water which will be
poured out into a man as a one glass of water. Surely it will
overflow, it is how God loves us, overflowing in its greatest extent
without limit.
It is obvious that the love of a man cannot be equaled on how
God loves. Although I have distinguished the two faces of love
but I want to see that love is just but one thing, universally. It is
true that we are loved here on earth, by everyone around us. Even
though I discussed how the love of man is limited, but it is more
acceptable that despite of limitations we have as man, we are at
least able to offer a little love for each other. As long as we love,
we are manifesting the love of God. There many people in our life
who loves us, and the goodness we have received from them is a
revelation of love. I cannot define love, for I know how great it is,
how I, who is limited can define love that is vast and eternal in
itself. But, yes, I can feel that love in you, you who is always
praying for me.
We are loved here on earth, how much more in heaven. I know
that we are all loved by the holy ones, the saints, our Blessed
Mother, all citizens of heaven and God himself. I know this love is
manifesting here below. We are loved above, and the love comes
down “love incarnate” who is Jesus himself, and taught us, to love
each other, because by loving others, we are loving God at the
same time. Like I said, even I distinguished the faces of love, still it
means that love from heaven is manifesting here below. Even man
distorts it, or reduced into something else. The essence of love
remains, that the love in itself is coming from an infinite divine,
God.
So it suffices that if we are loved here on earth, there is a certitude
that we are loved in heaven, God loves us. In fact, as I wrote on
previous reflections, that prior of everything, God loves us first,
and there are no changes and it will never be taken away from us.
Such a privilege that God loves us so dearly that even he is there
above, because of his love for us, he goes down here to manifest
more of his love. Through the person of Jesus, who died because
of love for us, and it is still continuing to the people around us,
manifesting only but greatest above all, love in its greatest extent.
I would like to share my little prayer I made:
Lord fill me with your love. For I alone cannot love without you. Help me in
everything I do to remember love. To do everything because of love, with
love and for love. As a man limited and imperfect, I cannot love fully. So
Lord fill me with your love, so that the love that I will show to others is yours
and not mine alone. A love that surpasses everything, a love that suffices
everything.
Only your love and all will be well. Amen
 IV
“The graces I received from heaven have changed me that I do not
seem to be the same person at all.”
What is that grace we received from heaven? Although there are so
many, it is summed up in just one thing, LOVE. “We are love in
heaven”, and it is the greatest grace we received (as in the previews
reflection). I could only think about one thing, that is love, what is
in my mind is love and love, nothing else. Maybe I’m in love, that’s
why I kept on thinking about it.
Pondering upon it, that something or grace that St. Thérèse
received is nothing but love for sure that changed her
Love indeed changes everything. We sometimes hear stories of
persons who changed their life because of love. Like St. Augustine,
once a sinful man, but he seeks love until that love itself changed
him. It seems that love is also a factor of change, a conversion, a
change of hearts. It is true, that even I can testify. Sometimes we
are inspired when we are inlove. It seems that we are quickly
changed because we are loved. We find inspiration to be better
every day. I felt that love that inspires me, especially I know that I
am loved by the people around me, and it inspires me to be better.
Even writing this journal and my intentions to share it with you, is
coming from inspiration and love pushes me to do it.
I know that love itself is the source of all goodness. When we put
love in something, that something will change, from despised into
something full of beauty.
Giving oneself is a form of love, and it is what I can testify, as I
give myself to the formation, it really is that as I give myself in the
formation out of love, I can say that I am not the same person
anymore, I am better than yesterday. It really is that love can
change a person, it changes a person into something better, into
something new, and to see oneself as wonderfully made because of
love. It soften our stony hearts and make us love God more.
I know for sure that every vocation story is the story of love. That
love itself changed a person to persevere to seek that love and
even that he or she seeks is the one who pushes him or her to
offer oneself. So every time I a priest, a nun, or other religious, I
said to myself. “Ah! They are loved, and their most beautiful habit they
wear is love itself.”
It is the greatest grace that God poured for us, but we can only be
better if we participate, give oneself and to open our hearts for that
grace. God wanted us to be better, and with his love, we are told
by God to open our hearts to him, for there is something greater
that awaits us as we participate in his love. Little by little we are
molded by love into a perfect model by the hands of God, and we
will never be the same person anymore.
 V
“…earth seemed to be a place of exile: and I dreamt of heaven…”
Do you ever feel that sometimes the world seems to be annoying?
Or Chaotic? Do you sometimes want to feel solitude and rest but
the world seems to be disturbing? Do you often think about
heaven as a place of refuge? Or do you want already to go to
heaven? These are the questions that I want to ask, because these
are in my thoughts, and personally, these questions are my own
experiences. I sometimes feel the world is very annoying, I want to
feel solitude but the world is very disturbing. I can only think
about a place of refuge, a restful shade, a glimpse of peace, heaven
would it be. I don’t mean to die already, but perhaps, maybe it is
what I mean. But sometimes, I feel that I want to have a glimpse
of heaven, in this midst of a world so chaotic, noisy and disturbing,
sometimes I want a glimpse of eternal peace, only just for a while.
Do you feel the same?
But what truly is heaven for you? What is an image of heaven? It is
sometimes so absurd when we think about it, if others may see.
But I know that there is nothing wrong in thinking about heaven.
For me thinking about it is anticipating our glory, the glory to
come, it is the time that we are now united with our God.
But there is a reality that I realized upon pondering about heaven.
Though I do not know what heaven is, but what I know for sure
that it is where we are all supposed to be. When I think of heaven,
I don’t mean to rush out my life, hurrying up in for me to rest
completely already, but no. I know, that before I go there, there is
still a mission for me to accomplish. I still need to find that
passage in which it is directed to heaven. For me, St. Thérèse
would mean two things, whether, she finds the outside world as a
place of exile, and that heaven she meant is to enter Carmel, or she
literally meant about going to heaven already. Nevertheless, I
discovered an insight about it. For me, I could fusion the two
ideas; a place of heaven, and a place that could teach me which
path is going to heaven.
Truly, if I did not enter the seminary, I could really feel how the
outside world is so exiled. Even in my reflections about the outside
world, it seems that I don’t like there already, I rather stay here
inside. Not all, but mostly, people are not aware about it, especially
my fellow young people. Others, doesn’t even pray, nor go to
Church, they focus more on what is material rather of spiritual. It
seems that they are now considered as Agnostic- they know that
there is a God, but they don’t believe that God could interfere in
their lives. Others may not think already of living a life of decency
or modesty. Others may not know God, and since they do not
know about God, they don’t even think about heaven anymore.
Sad to say, but some of these are also our fellow Catholics, our
brothers and sisters who lose their way. Again, not all, but they are
many.
Many will lose heaven in that regards, so sometimes when I think
about it, what can I do is to bring it into a prayer, that they may
find insights and return to the path where God wants us to tread.
It is the Church, a place that could teach us which path is going to
heaven. So I really admire young people who are very close to
Church, those who are truly dedicating their lives in the Church.
Those young people who would like to offer their lives in the
Church, heaven is at hand. Despite of numbers of young people
that do not know the importance of the Church, yet, there are
those who finds hope and trust in the Church, and I know, they
are many. That’s why I truly admire my spiritual sister, “little rose”,
she is one of those who are longing for heaven, because she knows
heaven, and she knows how to get there, because she is in the path
in which God wanted her to tread, she is in the path directing to a
place where she is supposed to be.
Heaven, it would be the place where we are supposed to be, and I
know, despite of our unworthiness of heaven, still, God is calling
us every day to tread that path in which he prepared for us,
because God wanted that all of his children will take part a place in
heaven. In longing of heaven, I know that the day will come, that
we are all united with God, but there is only one path that could
direct us to heaven, and the Church is teaching us about it. The
Church is a place of that path, and we are all called to gather there,
and together we will be walking in the same path towards heaven.
So it seems that the earth is really a place of exile, but if we find
hope that there is a glory that is waiting for us, we will seek for that
glory. Even the world seems to be disturbing and annoying, even
the world is suggesting many path of earthly allurements, there is
always a small still voice from inside of us that is telling “the heaven
is at hand, you have place of refuge in heaven, go and seek that path which will
lead you to heaven”. Don’t hesitate of dreaming about heaven, for as
we wonder about it, we are already drawing ourselves closer to it,
because as long as we know that there is heaven, we will seek the
path towards it, and as long as we seek, we will finally get there. In
Heaven.
 VI
“Your arms, my Jesus, are the lift which will take me up to heaven.”
I’ve been talking about heaven lately, and a place where we can
find direction that could lead us to heaven, the Church. But what is
it in the Church that makes her the director of heaven? Why the
Church? For me it is because of Jesus himself, who is the
cornerstone of the Church. The one who builds the Church and
the head of the Church, and he is the one that could point us to
the direction going to heaven.
As I find insights in the words of St. Thérèse, the arms of Jesus
would mean for me that, no one who can lift us to heaven, no one,
unless Jesus himself. In a way that I scanned a Bible and look upon
Jesus’ words saying, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (Jn. 14:6). It
is where I will ponder on how will Jesus lift us into heaven.
Jesus is the way. He directs us into a path which is leading to heaven,
but he is also the way towards heaven. Jesus as the way towards
heaven means for me that he is the example, a perfect model that
we must follow for us to attain heaven. By following the example
of Christ and learning in his teachings, there could be no other
place that he would take us, but in a place where he is there too.
Jesus would always tell us about being humble, to be child-like,
because through our littleness, he will carry us and bring us to his
kingdom. He said “Let the children come to me…the kingdom of heaven
belongs to such as these” (Mt. 19:13). We must learn from Jesus,
because, he is teaching us everything that could be our key as we
journey to the path leading to heaven.
Jesus is the truth. Every word Jesus has spoken is about the truth.
The truth about heaven. Even if we follow him when he is calling
us because he is the way going to heaven, if we do not believe that
he is telling the truth, indeed we will not be getting there in
heaven. Our faith is one of the keys that could open the gates of
heaven. Sometimes we are affected by the skepticism of great
thinkers who doubts heaven, who even doubts God. Sometimes
we are like St. Thomas, who doubts even Jesus. But, it is a simple
logic for me. If we don’t believe that it will happen, indeed it will
not. But if we believe, then it will be. It starts with us; it is in the
matter of our faith. Jesus is the way towards heaven because he
himself is the truth, and what he is saying is the truth. Jesus says
“In my father’s house there are many dwelling places…I am indeed going to
prepare a place for you and then I shall come back to take you with me, so
that where I am you also with me” (Jn. 14:2-3). It is the truth indeed,
that Jesus himself has prepared a place where we are supposed to
be, in heaven it is.
Jesus is the life. The life-giving bread, and not only life but eternal
life. He promised a place for us in the kingdom of God, but in
order for us to be in that kingdom of Heaven, we must first attain
eternal life. Jesus himself is that source of life, his flesh, and blood.
He did not only point us to heaven but he is also the way, and
what he speaks is true because he himself is the truth, moreover,
he is also the one that could sustain us into life everlasting in order
for us to be in the kingdom of God. As we partake the bread of
life and wine of salvation we are drawn closer to heaven, and these
things are in Jesus, and none other. All these things are for us, in
order for us to have that place in heaven, and it is only through
Jesus who is the truth, the way, and the life. Our sole direction towards
heaven.
So, it is only Jesus who could bring us towards heaven which we
yearn so much. His arms, but he would only take us to his arm as
long as we follow, believe, and have faith in him that he himself is
the only way who assures us of eternal life and a place in the
kingdom of God. It is my insights as I reflect upon these words of
St. Thérèse, indeed Jesus’ arm is the lift that could take us to
heaven, he alone, and nothing else. Because he himself is the one
who is in heaven, he awaits us, he is waiting for us to come home,
and he has prepared a place in his kingdom. He is the one who is
speaking in a small still voice saying “the heaven is at hand, you have a
place of refuge in heaven, go and seek that path which will lead you to heaven”
and Jesus would tell us too that “it is I that could lead you to heaven,
learn from me and follow me”.

VII
“The only glory that matters is the glory that lasts forever.”
What is the glory that lasts and doesn’t last? As I reflect upon it, I
can think about the alternation of the material and spiritual, the
earthly and heavenly, the glory of earth and the glory of heaven,
one that lasts and one that doesn’t.
Material, earthly and the glory of earth lasts, the time will come
that it will fade and wither. The time will come that everything we
have here on earth will vanish, it will never last until forever. It is
how I see things as I reflect upon them. The glory of this earth will
triumph, however it will never last, for everything here below is
limited and one day, it will be taken away from us. It might be
money, power, luxury, external beauty, gold or other treasures, and
the like. This is what humans seek. If a man gives importance
more to material things and earthly pleasure, it is sure that he
wanted to have all of those things I mentioned. I’m sure that you
also observed it today, many would prefer material things, of
course, there are material things that are necessary for us and it
meets our needs, but how about those things that are not
necessary nor our needs. Jewelry all over the body, or a man who
has a surplus of money but for him, it is still insufficient. Someone
who is rich but poor in spirit. In the Psalms, it says, “Don’t be upset
when someone becomes rich when his wealth grows even greater; he cannot take
it with him when he dies; his wealth will not go with him to the grave.” (Ps.
49:16-17). It is the reality that even how great we are, how
powerful we are, how rich we are in this passing world, the time
will come that all will be taken away from us. Our riches don’t
follow us when we die. See, the glory here below doesn’t last.
It is true, that we are sometimes indulged in things that are
material, and we forget about spiritual things. Spiritual matters are
more important than material, it doesn’t last, for God himself
wanted us to give importance to the glory that doesn’t last. Jesus
said, “Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth…instead store up
riches for yourselves in heaven.” (Mt. 6:19-20). There is one thing that
Jesus wanted to tell us, as what St. Thérèse wrote, “the only glory that
matters is the glory that lasts forever”, what we must hope and desire is
that of heaven, because these things will never last, and it will not
be taken from us, for it is forever with us, these treasures of
heaven. All of the earthly things and pleasure will rust and fade but
the spiritual things that we desire will never rust nor fade, it will
always be new and ever-beautiful.
I know that if we desire spiritual things, as we put it in prayer, God
is very pleased with us. It is what he wanted, and it is what he
wanted to give us. Like how I truly desire to have a spiritual sister,
I prayed for it rather of material things. With his grace, God truly
answered me and gave me a spiritual sister, and I know as I am
writing this journal, she is praying for me, and she is one of the
reasons why I am inspired of writing this, for I know that even she
is far away, her prayers feels close to me. It is because I desired
something spiritual, and I know that it is what God wanted me to
ask for him. The foundation of spiritual things is firm and cannot
be shaken, for it is rooted in God, how it can be shaken, for it is
God who is its foundation.
Attaining spiritual things is a glimpse of attaining that glory that
never lasts. For if we desire spiritual things, we are also anticipating
the glory to come, to attain heaven. I was talking about heaven
lately on my previews reflections, and it is the glory that lasts
forever. If we give more importance to spiritual things, it is the
start of desiring heaven. There is nothing here on earth that lasts,
all will die because earthly things are passing, temporal and limited,
one day all will be blown away like dust. So God would always
remind us to desire things that are spiritual, for it is where the
eternal glory starts, it is what he want because he wanted us to
realize that we are destined to enjoy things that never last, and we
should not enjoy things that are passing. As he prepared a place
for us in his kingdom, there are things also that are waiting for us,
things that never last; the glory that never lasts. It is the glory that
matters.
VIII
“I know that, to become a saint, one had to suffer much, always aim at
perfection and forget one’s self.”
In my reflections, I’ve been talking lately about heaven, how’s we
getting there, and choosing the glory that lasts forever. It is
drawing to an idea of holiness, the beatitude, and when I think
about it, I am also thinking of the models of living the life of
holiness, the saints. They are a good example of holiness, and as
we honor and recognize them, we are also encouraged to follow in
their footsteps. “Follow the saints, because those who follow them
will become saints.” (St. Clement I). But what does it take to be a
saint? Are we capable of living a life of holiness? Can we be saints?
These are questions that I am pondering upon. So, I consult the
writings of a saint, St. Thérèse herself, who at her young age
desires to be a saint and now she is, and she set an example of
desiring to be holy and what it takes to be as such.
In her writings she wrote, “To become a saint, one must suffer much,
always aim at perfection and forget oneself”. It will be my guide as I
reflect upon my questions. I find the writing of St. Thérèse about
being a saint inspiring, and I know that we could always be as such,
like these holy ones we know. Who knew, in God’s grace and our
perseverance, we might be declared by the Church as saints, who
knew.
One must suffer much. Why is it that suffering is a requirement of
achieving beatitude or holiness? Isn’t it odd, that we are allowed by
God to suffer? It seems that it is very contradicting, an irony, or
maybe a paradox, perhaps. But why sufferings? When I think
about it, I also think about our great martyrs who suffered much. I
made them as an example, so I may learn how suffering is very
important in the concept of holiness.
The great martyrs suffered much from bodily pain, terrible
persecutions, great chastisements, and extreme groaning because
of pain until they die, and poured even their last drop of blood.
I’ve been recalling those great martyrs and how did they die. St.
Stephen, the proto-martyr; stoned to death. St. Ignatius of
Antioch; devoured by lions. St. Agatha; her breast was cut. St.
Bartholomew; skinned alive and beheaded. St. Cecilia; her neck
was struck by the sword three times. St. Lawrence and St. Joan of
Arc; were burned alive, and many more Christian martyrs
experienced extreme suffering from persecutions. They poured
their blood for the Church and offered their sufferings to the
Lord. Suffering then is necessary, about what it takes to be a saint.
It is because suffering blooms our endurance and tests us how
strong we are in our faith. Suffering is not what we think that we
are being punished by God. We must take the concept of suffering
into a Christian perspective, that suffering is always the thing
which we can learn, which we can make firm our faith and our
fortitude in whatever will come in our life.
Sufferings will not be simply suffering. When we put love on
suffering, it will transform into sacrifice, a sacrifice that is pleasing
to God. Even these martyrs died of terrible death, so much pain
they endured, but there is one thing that made them zealous and
strong in facing their death, even rejoices in their death, its love.
That burning fire of love in their hearts, the blazing flames for the
love of God, that’s what makes them zealous in facing their death.
Its love that made them endure pain. It is when sufferings are
transformed into sacrifice. We must put love in our sufferings, it
will transform into a sacrifice, a sacrificial love. This sacrificial love
is also the sole reason why Jesus allowed himself to be humiliated,
scourged, crowned with thorns, mocked, carried the cross, its love
that pushes him to stand up again when he stumbled carrying the
cross. It is love that made Jesus climb the Calvary, be crucified,
and finally die hanging on the cross. He suffered all these pains,
but he transformed it with love and made it a pleasing sacrifice to
the Father. He did all of that for the love of all humanity. He
endured all those sufferings because of love, for love, and with
love.
Jesus has set an example of what it takes to be pleasing to God,
and it is what makes the martyrs, the saints to endure earthly pain
and they allowed themselves to learn and to be cleansed through
their sufferings, putting love and transforming pain into the
sweetest joy, and transforming suffering into a pleasing sacrifice.
They were not afraid to die or to suffer, for Jesus himself said,
“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will
keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25).
So, suffering is not simply our burden, our extreme painfulness
although it is, but if we put love in it, and we must love that
suffering, it makes as pleasing to God, and it makes the fire of love
in our hearts blaze even brighter. It is the one that will make us
pleasing to God, that we are made worthy of holiness. It is the
path that we must tread as we walk in the valley of holiness, the
valley where we walk in the path, who God himself had prepared
for us. To love our sufferings and embrace it, to transform our
greatest suffering into sacrifice, to offer that sacrifice for the love
of God, it is what it takes to be pleasing to God, and it is always
the path towards holiness.
Always aim at perfection. We as man, by nature we are imperfect, we
are inclined to errors and sins. That made me think, how can we
be perfect? Are you asking the same question too? Because it is the
universal truth, that we are not perfect, and God himself is the
only one who is without a portion of imperfection. How can we be
perfect? Is there still a reason to always aim at perfection?
For me, the concept of perfection as being a follower of Christ is
not really about fulfilling that infallibility. Because with our nature
we cannot fulfill that, and it is the reality, we are not perfect, we sin
every day. How then can we be perfect? Because if one of the
requirements of holiness is to aim for perfection, how are we
supposed to attain that perfection if we are by nature imperfect.
As I reflect upon it, it is not us that moves for us to be perfect,
although we have apart or roles to play, but the greatest part of our
perfection is in the hands of God.
Though we humans are unworthy, sinful, and imperfect, in the
eyes of God we are perfect, we are being treasured, we are made
good. We all are destined to share in the holiness of God because
he called us to as such; we are called to the path of perfection. It is
us alone that will make ourselves perfect but God. Because if we
will just choose our own will, even we aim at perfection, we can
never be perfect, we have limited capabilities, it is God, who is
perfect himself that will make us perfect.
That, if we allow ourselves to be molded by God with his own
hands. He alone can mold us, form us and make us perfect,
through his grace, even in our imperfections, yet God is powerful
enough that he will form us to be worthy, to be holy, and to be a
saint. But I am not telling that we let God make us perfect without
our perseverance to strive for perfection. No, even God has the
power to mold us, but if we don’t participate in his will, we don’t
move or we did not incline our hearts to his will, we cannot be
what he wants for us to be. St. Thérèse wrote, “My God, I don’t want
to be a saint by halves. I am not afraid to suffer for your sake; I only fear
doing my own will, so I give it to you and choose everything you will.” So
upon her writings, it is through sufferings and the will of God and
choosing that will, about what it takes to attain that perspective of
perfection.
See, we still go back to that suffering. Suffering is the factor of
perfection. What I can think of as a product of my reflections, that
suffering is somewhat a process and a systematic requirement.
Why is it that there is still sufferings in perfection? The best
example I can think of is the “forge”. A forge is where mostly
metals or gold are out into a furnace, it is burned and melted. To
melt them they must be heated at extreme combustion, so they
may be softened. For instance, gold is melted into the extent of
attaining the liquid-like substance, and there it could be put into a
molder and to be formed when it dries. For making a sword, the
metal is also heated to soften it, and it undergoes a rigid
hammering to form a straight and perfect form of a sword. For
me, it is how suffering and perfection works. Suffering is the fire in
which enables us to be melted, tested and when we are ready, we
are about to be formed by God into perfection. Suffering is
somewhat a process of cleansing and directing, from our
deformities into a perfect form. Like, form an unformed chunk of
metal into a beautiful formed metal, made into perfection. It is
how suffering works hand in hand with our perfection, it allows us
to be formed by God’s hands. From an extreme heat, until to the
melting point, and from a rigid hammering for us to be formed, in
life it is how we learn and allow ourselves to be molded into
perfection.
When we aim at perfection, we must acknowledge the will of God
and follow it. As I discussed previously that, if we do it in our way
in attaining perfection, we cannot ever attain it. However, if we
allow the will of God to interfere and choose that will, we will be
made perfect by his will and not ours alone. Similarly, like we
allowed ourselves to be burned and melted, we are ready to be
molded. It is now our role to play, to choose the will of God. If we
do not allow ourselves to undergo the process of pain which has
the cleansing and molding power because it is how God forms us
to perfection, we cannot be perfect. So simply, it is in the hands of
God that will make us as such. St. Thérèse wrote, “I am not relying
on my own merits, because I haven’t any. I hope in Him who is virtue and
sanctity himself; He alone content with my frail efforts, will lift me up to
himself, clothe me with His own merits, and make me a saint.” So to be
perfect, we must put our trust in God as we do our role also.
Because it is what it takes to be a saint, to be holy, always aim at
perfection. We cannot be perfect on our own will, but in God’s
will, his hands will form us, mold us, as his masterpiece, his sharer
in his holiness, we are beautifully molded into perfection, because
it is what he wants, “Be holy for I am holy” (Lev. 11:45).
Forget one’s self. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny
themselves…”. He called us to follow him, but also in following we
must forget or deny ourselves. Pondering upon it, forgetting one’s
self is a big and important thing as we tread the path of holiness.
For me, we cannot transform suffering into sacrificial love if we
don’t forget ourselves. Moreover, we cannot follow and allow
ourselves to bend in the will of God that leads to perfection if we
don’t forget ourselves. So as suffering and perfection go hand in
hand, it is the “forgetting one’s self” which is the powerhouse,
which made endurance in suffering and aiming for perfection
occurs.
In forgetting one’s self, it involves of disowning everything we have. My
simple analogy of it is this:
If we are called by Jesus to follow him, we are called also to
renounce our worldly attachment. Why? Imagine, we are called by
Jesus while we are still attached to these things, we have many
things to carry, you can name it, wealth, pride, power, our will, our
wants, our worldly desires. We are carrying them, but Jesus wanted
us to carry the cross, but how can we carry the cross if our hands
are already full of heavy worldly things that we carry. We have
choices to make, because we cannot carry both the cross and
worldly things, we cannot serve in both masters, and even if we try
to carry them both, along the way, we may stumble, imagine how
heavy is that, carrying the cross on one side and carrying worldly
things in the other, so definitely, we may give up and stop. But if
we wanted to follow Christ, we have only one choice, leave
everything and “take up the cross”. Yes, it is hard to renounce
everything, it is hard to forget all our wants in life, but if we forget
ourselves we can easily leave them, and wholeheartedly, plunge
ourselves, embracing the cross as we follow Jesus.
Remember, those worldly things are passing, it doesn’t last forever,
and it is the cross which is our glory that lasts from age to age,
without end. When we leave everything and accept the cross, we
will gain everything, more than we have. That if we forget
ourselves, trust the cross willingly. It is the very beginning of our
journey to the path of holiness, to forget one’s self by disowning
everything we have.
In forgetting oneself, we disown everything because it is in the
cross that will give us more than enough. It is a Child-like surrender,
as we forget ourselves, we trust everything to God as he provides
everything as we follow the path of Christ.
This is the spirituality of St. Thérèse, the Child-like surrender. She
has the child-like spirituality, the humility, the littleness, the self-
surrendering, and trusting in the hands of God. It is through the
example of St. Thérèse that I learned the child-like surrender, and
it is one of the best examples of forgetting one’s self. As we follow
Christ, because we left everything, we have nothing but the cross.
But with the child-like trust in God, who is the provider of all, like
a little child the only thing that we can do is to receive everything
from him. It is the cross that we carry that gives everything,
provides everything we need. Even Jesus said to the disciples in
their mission, “Do not carry any gold, silver, or copper money in your
pockets; do not carry a beggar's bag for the trip or an extra shirt or shoes or a
walking stick. Workers should be given what they need.” Jesus is telling us
one thing, that we only trust in God’s grace, like a little child,
trusting his parents for everything he needs. It is also when we
follow Christ, as we forget ourselves, we are also reminded of
trusting the will of God, and trusting that he will provide
everything for us. It is also through forgetting one’s self that we
acknowledge our littleness like a child, and from there as we follow
Jesus, God will provide everything for his little child. We did not
need to be afraid of leaving everything in carrying the cross, for
from there, everything will be provided. As we surrender
everything to him, we are also acknowledging his will, and because
we surrender everything, it is the beginning of forgetting ourselves,
and trusting only to his will, and trusting to his will is the way of
allowing ourselves to be molded by him into holiness.
Pondering about it, for me, there is also a “forgetting one’s self” in
sufferings and perfection. It would be impossible for me to
transform suffering into sacrificial love without forgetting one’s
self. It is through the example of Jesus himself. He forgets himself
and what he only thinks about is for the redemption of all
humankind, by dying on the Cross, it is sacrificial love. St. Mother
Teresa of Calcutta said, “When you give what you don’t need, it isn’t
giving”. For me, what she meant is that, we must give the most
necessary things we have, yes, it is our need, but if someone would
ask for it, we must wholeheartedly give it to them, it’s not easy
unless we forget ourselves for the needs of others. We may suffer
for it, but out of love and forgetting oneself, it will transform into
sacrificial love. It is also in forgetting one’s self that we can endure
sufferings, that we can turn sufferings into the sweetest joy, that
we need not be afraid already of sufferings, because we surrender
everything to God as we forget ourselves. We need not be afraid
of it already for it will become sweet when turned into sacrificial
love, “I can no longer suffer because all suffering is sweet.” (St. Thérèse).
It is also through forgetting one’s self that we are able to allow
ourselves to be molded by God. Forgetting one’s self also implies
that we are choosing the will of God and not ours. For we cannot
be molded into perfection on our own, it is when we allow
ourselves to be plunged in will of God, from there he will mold us
to perfection. Because we cannot endure sufferings without
forgetting one’s self it follows, that we did not allow God to
interfere in our life for us to be molded into perfections if from
sufferings we have failed already in forgetting one’s self. Because
forgetting one’s self must be present in sufferings and perfection.
As I said, if sufferings and perfection go hand in hand, their
powerhouse is forgetting one’s self.
So, it is the how’s in what it takes to be holy, to be a saint. It is
true, that through suffering, aiming at perfection and forgetting
one’s self that we gain virtues that leads to beatitude or holiness, or
to be a saint. Seeing it, it is not only what St. Thérèse said, but it is
Jesus prior to that, that gives an example, that teaches us to be as
such. Because we are all destined to sharers and partakers in the
holiness of God, and as I reflect from it, it is the means towards
this holiness, beatitude and sainthood. Which Jesus at first, set an
example of it, and we are all called to tread that path, and he
wanted that all of us to be saints, to live a holy life, because we are
all sharers of God’s kingdom, and to be in that kingdom, we must
be holy for he our God is holy. It is not impossible, the saints we
have are also like us, and truly we can be what they become, that’s
why they are the examples, the models that we must follow, for St.
Clement I said that we must follow the saints, because as we
follow them we can also be saints. We are all destined to be saints,
and we are called to endure sufferings and transform it into
sacrifice, to aim at perfection, and to forget one’s self. Because it is
what it takes to be a saint.

IX
“It is easy to miss your way when the path of the world seems to be
attractive.”
God called us to follow the path of holiness, to strive for the
beatitude, to seek spiritual things rather than worldly allurements,
to seek for the glory that lasts forever and to love God alone.
These are the things that I have reflected previously, about why
should we choose these things, and the means of doing, and to set
it as our goal, for us, when time comes, we enjoy the everlasting
unity with God. But despite of all those things, I know that, we
humans are inclined of failing to see the importance of those
things. We all have our dark side, we all fall into sinning, we are
prone of going astray, we sometimes are lost and we sometimes
forgot all those things which God wanted us to remember and
follow.
Even I, personally, because of my limitations, am sometimes
inclined into worldly things. Even though I know that the things
that God wanted us to have are important, yet, because of my
stubborn heart, I sometimes choose my own will. I know that we
all have that stubborn heart; we are inclined to miss the path which
we are now taking. Even we are now on that path, sometimes we
turn to the offshoots and detours of our path, which is not
supposed to be. St. Thérèse is correct in saying that, when the
world seems to be attractive, we most often lose our way. I know
that there are many people like me who are inclined to this, but I
hope and with your prayers, that if ever we are lost, in God’s grace
we may be able to find our way back to the path which God has
prepared for us.
Why the world, especially nowadays seems to be attractive? The
world is now succumbed by secularization, modernization and it
leads people to forget God. Personally, even here inside the
formation, or behind the walls of our formation house, may it be a
seminary or a convent, there is still an influence of the outside
world. Many things are happening in the world, and even things
that seem to be improper or a violation of modesty and decency,
because it is what most all people do, it appears to be right. That
leads many people especially young people to follow those things,
succumbed by secularization, indulged themselves in worldly
things and the needs of the flesh, and neglect spiritual things. This
is what is happening now, and I know that you have also observed
that. But since we are also the seeds of this generation, there is a
great probability that we sometimes may fall into this worldly
attachment, and lose our way. Especially I, and especially I am in
the seminary, who preservers and strives to focus and give
importance to the spiritual things, and the devil will not allow it.
The devil hates it, that’s why we, inside the formations, are being
attacked by it, so that we may be attached to these worldly things
and to lose the way which we are now taking. We all need your
prayers. But it is not us also who are inside the formations that are
being attacked, but I know that you are also struggling to
overcome these worldly things and not to indulge in the thorns of
materialism and secularization. But because we know what it takes
to overcome these things, we can transcend from it, because even
when we fall, God will take us back, he will bring us back to his
flock, like what he did to the lost sheep, and even us, when we fall
into these things, even we allowed ourselves to be overcome by
temptations, but if we return to him like a prodigal son, God will
embrace us very tender.
But despite these realities that are happening, I still find insights as
I consult the writings of St. Thérèse herself, she wrote, “I think
Jesus wanted me to see something of the world before He comes
to me for the first time so that I might choose more surely that
path in which I would promise to follow him”. It made me think
that, if sometimes we fall into these things, we attached ourselves
to worldly allurements and lose our way, it is sometimes happening
in order for us to learn. But I am not saying that we must indulge
in those things in order for us to learn, but with all those things
that are occurring in our world right now, we must learn from it, as
we see those things that they are not supposed to happen, we can
now choose not to indulge in those worldly things because these
are not the path that God wanted us to tread, it is the other way
around. Because I know along the way, in our life, we will
sometimes see two paths, one is the path of the world and one is
the path of God, then we choose from it, and if we know that the
path of the world will not last forever, we will choose that path of
God. This path is the path that Jesus has traced for us and we
know that it is the better path beyond everything.
So, despite the vastness of the secularizations and modernization
of this world, if we know the path of God, even if sometimes we
lose our way, or fall into the temptation of worldly attachment, we
must learn from it, and ask for the guidance of God, so that he
may lead us back to his path. Yes, the world seems to be attractive,
but if we persevere and strive for the path of God, know that we
are in the right place, we are walking on the right path. We are
struggling from it, and it is a good thing, we are blessed, we, who
despite the modernization of the world, especially in today’s
generation, still know the path of God, and because we struggle
not to be attached to the worldly things, God will give us strength
to do it. It is his path that we are following, and what could
possibly go wrong, for we are on the right path, God will guide us
along the way.

X
“Yet, the divine call was always so urgent, that even it is hard meant
going through fire, I would case myself to follow him.”
Yes, the world seems to be attractive, and sometimes we may fall
to the temptation of attaching ourselves to worldly things, yet “the
divine call is so urgent”. It is true, that beyond the vastness of
materialism in the hearts of many people today, and it seems that
we are being influenced by it, still if we persevere not to indulge in
these things, we can transcend from all these allurements.
As I reflect upon this writing of St. Thérèse, for me, it shows the
challenges we face upon following God. Secularization,
modernization and worldly allurement, and impurities are the fires
where we must pass through. We cannot avoid these things, for we
are in this generation, but we can always discipline ourselves in
dealing with these worldly things that kept on bothering us. See,
following the path of Jesus is not about a bed of roses, rather,
thorns. We are walking in the path of thorns, surely, it is how
difficult as we follow Christ. Because the path of Jesus is needed of
endurance for sufferings, the world suggests a path that is so easy
to pass through, where we need not to suffer but only walking in
the pleasure of things. But we should not be deceived, we may
miss the path of God because the path of the world seems to be
attractive.
Many young people today have lost their way, what they can hear
is only the voices of the world, the voices of wealth, popularity,
power, impurity, indecency, immodesty, and worldly things, they
do not hear already the small still voice of God that is calling them
to change their path, to turn and walk in his path of holiness. This
is the scenario of our world today, the vastness of spiritual
negligence, but yet, there are those people who still can hear the
voice of God amidst the noises of worldly allurements. You, my
spiritual sister, is an example of it, we are walking on the same
path. We heard that “divine call”, which is so urgent, that even we
cast ourselves through the fire, we will do everything for us to pass
through. Because amidst the influence of the world., we are
blessed that we can still hear that still small voice of God, and I
acknowledge it as a gift, and I thank God, that he chose as to hear
his call, that we may also follow that “divine call”.
It is also the will of God because he wanted that many people will
respond to his call, to be molded into perfection, and when they
are ready, they will be the ones to renew the world, to bring many
people closer to God, to change many people’s lives, to make
people leave their worldly attachment and to attach only to God
and to the spiritual things. And it is urgent, for the world is little by
little succumbed by this negligence of God, and God needs many
people to prevent this from happening. He needs workers for
spreading the kingdom of God, and it is us, who hear the small still
voice of God, calling our name. Like the Prophet Samuel, we are
called to utter the response when God called him, “Here I am; you
called me…speak Lord, for your servant is listening.” (1 Sam. 3:8-9). This
“divine call” which is so urgent is a gift, for rare our those who
hear his call. I know that those who are called by God will have a
great mission to do, but this mission will provide more thorns than
petals of roses, yet, the glory awaits for them, the glory that lasts
forever. It is us, we who are called by God, and I anticipate for
that mission, for whatever may happen, wherever I am supposed
to be, yet I know that as God called me, he has prepared
something great for me, and I know it is for the better, so I trust
him and follow whatever he wills. It is my experience, and I am
also encouraging you, I know that you also heard that call of God,
and I am telling you also, “Take courage; get up, He is calling you”, (Mk.
10:49). I am praying, as God is calling us every day, we must also
respond to him every day, and follow that “divine call” that is so
urgent.
So, even we are living in this world which is full of the negligence
of God and noises of allurements, yet, we can hear the small still
voice of God, let us not hesitate to listen to it, for it is urgent. As
we follow him, know that we are on a right path, and in that path,
it will mold us to what he wants us to be. It is to be his holy
servant, and to change the world, to bring people closer to him, to
be saints.
 XI
“I long to bring light to souls, like the prophets and doctors; to go to the
end of the earth to preach Your name, to plant Your glorious cross, my
Beloved, on pagan shores.”
As we hear the “divine call” of God, we are ought to listen to it,
and as we listen, we are all encouraged to follow that small still
voice of God. As I reflect upon it, the writings of St. Thérèse is
talking about our vocation, discipleship, and to be a servant leader.
We are all called to be like prophets, or to be doctors, to evangelize
the people, and to teach the truth. Similarly, we are called by God
to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mk. 16:15).
Whatever we may be, whatever vocation we have, we are called in
the same calling, and we are called by the same God.
“To plant your glorious cross, my Beloved, on pagan shores”, the words of
St. Thérèse remind me of my previous reflections about our
mission to renew the world. The urgency of his calling is to renew
the world, as I have said, the world now is little by little
succumbed, overpowered by the negligence of God, by
forgetfulness of God’s command, and certainly by evil. That’s why
it is urgent, for God doesn’t want his children to be indulged in
these worldly things. Like what St. Thérèse said, we must plant that
glorious cross on pagan shores, or alternately, to plant that cross in
the hearts of people, to bring them back to God, to bring them
closer to God, to lead them in knowing God and to make many
people follow God as many as we can.
Every single one of us has the mission of planting the cross in the heart
of every people around us. It is the beginning of our mission. Like what
happened to us, someone had planted a cross in our hearts that
made us hear the divine call, and as we have responded to it, it is
now our turn to plant the cross in the hearts of man. It is where all
begins, from the cross, and with the cross, its end is solely the
cross. Because we are called by God, we are also an instrument of
God to tell others that God is calling them too. I know that it is
the mission of every vocation, may it be the ordained, religious
vocation, matrimonial vocation, or single blessedness, these
vocations have one mission. To plant the cross in the heart of
every people around us.
To bring people back to God. As we plant the cross in their heart, still,
we have to bring them back to God. Many are lost, many do not
know the path, many are confused about what is the right path.
Even us, before we tread the path of God, we are also his lost
children, we do not know where to go. But because we have
known it already, we have now the duty and responsibilities to
bring others back to God. We cannot do it alone, even the
prophets and the apostles of the old times couldn’t do it alone. It
is the power of the Holy Spirit that guides them. Similarly, with
ours, as God called us to tread his path, we are also having that
mission of bringing back the lost children of God. Why us?
Because, we, who are called by God are his servants and workers,
and through us, we could spread the kingdom of God here on
earth.
To lead others in knowing God. As we bring many people back to
God, we have also the duty to teach them about God. What is the
sense of bringing them back to God, if at first, they do not know
God? Meaning, as we bring them back to God, we must also let
them know who God is, and why they have to go back to him. We
must let other people know that they are children of God, that
they are precious in the eyes of God, that they are loved by God.
To tell them about what God has said, “…you are mine…you are
precious and honored in my sight…and I love you…” (Is. 43:1, 4). Letting
them know how important they are the eyes of God, telling them
that when they return to Him, he will rejoice and embrace them
tenderly, like a prodigal, and that is what we are also, we are all
prodigal sons of God. It is our mission, and as we let them know
who God is, we will make them also love God. “To make them
love God as I have loved him”, says St. Thérèse. They will know
the importance of God if we teach, for them to know God, and by
knowing Him, they will love Him, and with their hearts
rejuvenated by the love of God, will return to Him, and God
himself will embrace them.
To make many people follow God as much as we can. For me, this
is the best part of our mission. We have been like a teacher, or in
the “Duties of the Ordained”, we called it “munus docendi”, or the
duty to teach, based on the role of Christ as a Prophet. It is for the
ordained, yet, we still have this role in our mission as the workers
of God to teach other people, and through it, we may flourish the
cross in their hearts which we have planted. By teaching them, we
can open their hearts, and make them realize that they are also
called by God, to be his workers. The same thing happened to us,
even I personally. These workers of God, the faithful people of
God around us are the ones who opened my heart in the calling of
God, which through them, I heard a divine call speaking in my
heart to follow the path of God. Because of it, I have seen the
mission itself, as I walk through this journey, I know that my role
also is to encourage many young people like me to follow God. I
know that this Journal that I am writing, is also one way of
opening someone’s heart in the calling of God. As we go back to
my previous reflections, the world now is plunged into a great
secularization, and rare are the people who can still hear the voice
of God, and we who can hear it have the duty to let others hear
what God wanted them to hear. Because I know that they are
called also by God to walk in the path which he had prepared,
because it is true that, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”
(Mt. 9:37). So, if there will be no workers left, who would be the
next to spread the kingdom of God if none left? Therefore, we
who are called by God also have the mission to make many people
follow God even we are still in the process of walking to the path
of God. But isn’t it enjoyable that many of us will walk in the same
path?
It is our calling, our vocation, that beyond the noises of the world,
we could still hear the voice of God, calling us to be like a prophet
or doctors, to bring light to the lost souls of this world. To plant
the cross in their hearts. We maybe be young, we may think that
we are not ready, we may think that people will just laugh at us.
But we don’t have to be afraid of it, we are the instruments of
God, and God does not fail, and we who are called to be his
servants, we only have to trust God in our mission. For we have
blessed by the gift of calling, we also have that mission of giving
light for souls. Like what St. Thérèse said in her letter to her sister,
Celine, “Let us not forget souls, but let us forget ourselves for them”. And
we are all encouraged to do the same, for we are also being called.
 XI
“My Vocation is love! Yes, I have found my place in the Church
and it is you, O my God, who have given me this place.”
It is my favorite quote that St. Thérèse had written. “My vocation is
love”. Indeed, as I ponder upon it, whatever may our vocations be,
it is all summed up in love. We are called by God, we have
different missions on our calling, but the summary of our missions
says the same thing, love.
Even in the writings of St. Thérèse, before she had realized that
her vocation is love, she thought of doing all the vocation, all the
role of every man who is called by God. She wrote, “Yet, I feel the
call of some vocations still; I want to be a warrior, a priest. An apostle, a
doctor of the Church, a martyr-there is no heroic deed I do not want to wish to
perform. I feel on doing on a crusade, ready to die for the Church upon the
battlefield.”. We are called by God to accomplish a mission in a
different way, different roles. Some, are called to be a priest, to be
religious, even those who are married and single blessedness. Some
are called to be a prophet, an apostle, a doctor of the Church, and
a martyr. Yet, they are all called to love, we are called to love.
Reflecting upon it, it is true, that the only thing that emerges from
every vocation we have is the uncontainable heat of love. For me,
that love is the one that pushes us to accomplish our mission. We
do it for love, and the way we do it is the way of love, and beyond
all our calling, the reason of this, is love itself. In simple words,
“because of love, with love and for love.”
It is love, that made the apostles go to every corner of the world
and proclaim the Gospel. It is love that kept them firm amidst
persecution. Even there are all handed over to torment, mockery
and extreme pain, it is love that made them strong to endure
sufferings. For the love of Christ; it is their mission, to do
everything for proclaiming the love of Jesus, and expressing their
love for him, by offering their sacrificial love to God and for the
Church.
The martyrs, the seeds of the Church. As I have reflected
previously, it is solely for the love of God that made them offer
their lives to God. It is love still, that they did not renounce their
faith, it is love that made them enthusiastic even in facing their
death, like the several Carmelite martyrs who sang they are being
executed. It is love that made the woman martyrs choose death
rather than degrade their purity. It is love that made them choose
death rather than living the life but renouncing the faith in Jesus.
See, if not love, then what else? These martyrs flourished the
Church by their blood, pouring it until the last drop, and it is solely
out of love, love for God. All of them played a different role, yet,
they do their mission for the same reason, manner, and goal, that is
love.
So, every vocation is about love. Whatever may be our vocation,
nevertheless of the differences, yet, it is all about love. It is truly
our place in the Church. We who have been called by God, we
might undergo still this vocation clarity, we may take a lot of time
for discernment. We may not sure of the mission we have to
accomplish, but still, there is only one thing that is common in
every vocation, just love. Love, for it is what our vocations are all
about, love, and everything follows. Whether I will become a
priest, whether you will become a nun, yet, what matters is love.
Nothing else is greater than love, all of these things, our zeal of
bringing many people back to God, letting them know God, to
bring many people to follow God, and to plant the glorious cross
in their hearts. All of these, will not be possible if we who are
called by God do not love. Because at first, we are called by God
to love, and all of our vocations are summed up in love. St Thérèse
added, “I saw that all vocations are summed up in love, and that love is all in
all embracing every time and place because it is eternal.”
If our vocation is love, what then is this love? Why we are called
by God to love? St. Paul in one of his epistles certainly coined the
love that God wanted us to understand, and I know that it is one
of the famous Bible passages that people knew, and I know for
sure that you also know this. “Love is patient, love is kind. It is not
jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its
own interests, it is not quick tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not
rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.” (1 Cor. 13:4-6). St. Paul
says different descriptions about this love, but if you look upon it,
the very meaning that this love is showing us is evening can be
shortened, and with it, we can know what love is. For me, with all
those descriptions of love that St. Paul gave, what I can only think
is goodness. Love is goodness, as love in itself is good. It is where
all goodness comes from, the starting point of all goodness, the
source. Because if we don’t love, are we still going to continue to
look upon each other? If we don’t love, are still willing to care? We
are showing goodness, respect, care, support, and trust to others
because we are loving and because we are loved also. That’s why,
love is patient, it is kind, not jealous, does not seek its own
interests, it does not rejoice in wrongdoing because love is always
good. It takes everything that is opposition to goodness, it is love
that pushes everything to be good.
Now, we are called by God to love, because, by loving, it is where
we start on showing goodness to others, not our goodness alone
but the goodness of God. Our vocation is love, and by loving, we
are manifesting that goodness of God that needs to be shared, that
we need not contain it in our own hearts, rather, we must let that
goodness of love flow in the heart of many people, through us, as
we respond to the call of God, the call to love. We might be facing
troubles upon proclaiming that love, we may show them to others
but they will not understand, some will neglect, some will question,
some will disapprove, some will hate us, some will instead return
pain. Nevertheless, we have done our role. In fact, it is how love
works, we are hurt because we are loving, we may be rejected, but
love, “It bears all things, believe all things, hope all things endure all things.”
(1 Cor. 13:7). There, we find strength as we love, and that strength
is the love itself. It bears all things, all goodness, it believes all
things, as we love, we always believe that every time we love, we
are showing the love of God, acting the love of God, expressing it,
in that way, we might be able to renew other people’s heart. It
hopes all things, hoping that through our loving, we might be able
to open the hearts of every people, that through our love, they may
find insights and hope. With love, it hopes for a better, it hopes
that all will be well. Love endures all things, even when we love
but in return we receive pain, still, love endures. Like the zeal of
the martyrs, it is love that endures. It endures suffering, like Jesus,
because of love, endures the pain, offering it as his sacrificial love.
These are the reasons why we are called to love because in loving
we can do all things, “Love never fails.” (1 Cor. 13:8). How are we
supposed to fail? We have love, and love itself is good, and there is
nothing else who is the source of this love but God, who is love
himself, who is powerful, whereas love is eternal, how are we
going to fail then? If God is love, then love is powerful, perfect,
and eternal, then if we love, we are manifesting that greatness of
love, if there is love, God will always be there, and if we are doing
everything out of love and for love, certainly, because in love there
is God, surely we will never fail. That’s why in our vocation, our
calling and mission, that is to love, know that we will never fail in
love.
So, even we are called in different vocations, as St. Thérèse wrote
that all vocations are summed up in love, I could also tell that
vocations are nothing without love, “vocation is useless without love”
(from the poem of my Spiritual Sister). Because we are called to
love, it is our vocation, if we don’t love, what’s the point? Nothing
else, if we don’t love, we have nothing. Furthermore, in his epistle,
St. Paul wrote, “If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have
love, I am a resounding gong or clashing cymbal. And if I have the gift of
prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I do not have love,
I am nothing. If I give away everything I own, and if I hand over my body, but
do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:1-3). What else could make
us important, could make us more precious in the eyes of God, if
God does not love us, we are nothing. Therefore, we are nothing
also if we do not love, who are we if we don’t love? For it is why
God called us, only to love, we may be a prophet, an apostle, a
doctor of the Church, a martyr, a priest or a nun, or any sort of
vocation, but without love, these are all dust that is blown by the
wind. Yes, it is love, only love and nothing else. All goodness will
simple follow, out of love, it is the reason why we are called, it is
only to love. Because love is the source of all goodness, we came
into being because of love and will return to love. There are many
great things that we may see in this world, but as St. Paul wrote,
“Faith, hope, love remains, but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Cor. 13:13).
So please know, that in whatever vocations we have, always
remember that the only thing we that we could do is love, nothing
else. It is what God wants us to do. Proclaiming the Gospel, doing
good works, being a missionary to deliver the Good News of God,
converting many souls, and planting the Cross in their hearts, it’s
all about love. We do it, because of the calling of love, and we do it
by loving and we do it for love itself. It is our place in the Church,
as we hear the still small voice of God, calling us to follow his path
of holiness. We may not be sure still, of our vocation or our role as
being called by God, but always remember, that it is love that Jesus
wanted from us and nothing else. Thus, our vocation is love.

“If not love, where else can we turn? If not love, what else can we do? If not
love who are we? It is in love where we can find You, it is love that the only
thing we can do, it is love that makes us who we are. Nothing else, but love. It
is you my God, who is Love himself. To whom do we seek, if not you.”
 XII
“Love alone counts.”
Knowing that our vocation is love, our beginning, and our end is
love, and the only thing we could do is love, what else do we
desire? Is there anymore greater than love? We could tell many
attributes of God, but for me, I could only tell that our God,
himself is love, and I know it suffices everything.
It seems that from the beginning of the journal until here, and for
the rest of this journal, love is commonly mentioned. Even upon
writing this, I was seeking to find out that, as I am doing this
journal, there is no other reason that I could find, except that I am
doing it because of love, with love, and for love. I am not wasting
my time in writing this journal, but what is in my mind, is to keep
on giving what my heart says, seeking meanings and insights in the
writing of St. Thérèse, asking guidance from scriptures that could
support my reflections. But most of all, the one thing that even I,
not aware of, I am letting the love flow from deep within,
expressing it, imprinting it in this paper, it seems that I am putting
my heart here in this journal. What pushes me on doing this is no
other than love. So, this journal is the product of love, a love that I
felt from God, which inspired me to share it with you, for this love
is uncontainable, it needs to be burst out from within. It needs to
be shared. In this part of my reflection, I will go deeper into that
love, as we are called by God to love. It may be hard to explain
love, it has thousands of meanings, but I always thought of love
which is solely rooted in God, with this, it will be my foundation
and my basis of reflecting upon love.
St. Thérèse in her autobiography had mentioned a lot of times
about love, and I have chosen what must I reflect upon, to find the
importance of love in our vocations. She wrote, “Love alone can
make us pleasing to God, so I desire no other treasures.”. We as God’s
children came into being out of love, God’s love. Even we have
sinned, even we disobey him still he continued to love us. He
never ceased loving, all of us, we are loved by God. What he
wanted from us is also love. And we cannot deny that we are
loving. Does anyone of us doesn’t know how to love? I think no,
there are only people who don’t know what to love and why are
we to love. So, it’s innate to us, love is in every single individual,
but the problem is, we sometimes distort the meaning of love, and
we tend to exchange love into worldly treasures, we injure the
innocence of love.
If we observe today, love is very common, but a “secularized
love”. Love is not only about our relationship with the opposite
sex, or partners, or for couples. Because, if we mention love to
other people, especially young people, what’s in their mind is the
already secularized love and they did not think of any deeper
meaning of true love. So it seems that we had degraded love or
perhaps, in this world, the only love that people knows is the
“eros”-an erotic love, love for partners. We cannot blame them if it
is the only love that they knew, but sometimes even this love has
been degraded, they equaled love into materialistic view, they
thought of love that could be exchanged for money. Is it love? I
think no. It is no longer love, it is lust. Such a misery it is, that the
world doesn’t know what to love. The world only loves wealth,
power, authority, supremacy, popularity, luxury, and anything
worldly. They love it so much, that they do anything to have it,
even to degrade others’ dignity to have those things, out of their
love. Yet, that kind of love is not worth to be called love, because
that’s not how love works. “Love doesn’t seek its own interest”, love
must always be for the good of all, a communion, a selfless love,
how then, that the love of power, wealth, and the like is worthy to
be called true love. Definitely, it’s not love after all. How then
could it make us pleasing to God, if we love like that? Although,
yes, we are loving. But is it what God wanted us to do? To love
wealth and power? Are we pleasing to God now, if we love like
that? Certainly no, it is not what God wanted us to love, the only
thing that we must love is the love itself, a far more precious with
other treasures. We must love the “love himself”, who is God.
Jesus left us this commandment, “You shall love the Lord, with all your
heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.” (Mt. 22:37). There is
nothing else, it is God that we should love, the God who is love
himself. These worldly things cannot be equaled to God, and by
loving them it seems that we are insulting God. The world made
wealth and power as their god because they love these things more
than God. How are we pleasing to God if we love these worldly
things more than God?
We must treasure the love; the love of God and not the worldly
things. Yes, by loving, God is pleased with us, but we must be
careful of choosing what to love. In this world, we are confused
because of the distortion of love, the degradation of love, people
now do not know what the meaning of true love is. Know, that
what makes us pleasing to God is by loving him, him alone. As we
desire for love, as we treasure it, we must always remember that
there is nothing else that we must love, it is only God that we must
love, who is love himself.
 XIII
“Those who chose for love of God to be the poorest and most obscure on
earth will be the first and the richest and most glorious in Heaven”
By loving God, it is not only about making ourselves pleasing to
him or obeying the greatest commandment. As we renounce all the
worldly things in this world, we will have all the riches that await
us in heaven. So, what must we do for us to be the richest in
heaven? Simply, the very important is to love God first, and not to
love earthly richest.
We are still talking about love, and as I have reflected previously
that we have to love nothing else but God, who is love himself, for
loving him, it is what makes us pleasing to him, because for him
love alone counts.
To love him alone, not to love the things that could keep us away
from him. I’m not saying that renouncing worldly things means
not to use them, or not to give importance to material things.
Because these things are still helpful for us, sometimes they are the
means for our needs and necessities, that’s why they are still
important. What I mean is, we should not attach to them too
much. Too much that to the extent that we tend to love these
things, and too much that we now forget to love God. Wealth,
power, and luxury are not bad, they are only bad because humans
had labeled it as bad because humans used it in a bad way. We
could be wealthy in a good way, we good have power in a just and
right behavior. However, due to our uncontrollable behavior, due
to our inclination to errors, we made these things into a bad
reputation. People wanted to possess these things, until they are
already possessed by these things, and they forgot already the most
important treasure, and they already forgot to love God. So, if we
are attached to these things, most likely it would keep us away
from our God, and we make them as our gods, which is not
supposed to be. How can we be pleasing in the eyes of God in that
regard? If we are called to love, but although we love, what we
love is the richest here below but not the richest in heaven, we
tend to attach ourselves to these worldly things and detach
ourselves to God, who is the most treasurable wealth in heaven.
We should not be like that, it’s better to have nothing here on
earth and to have everything in heaven than to have everything
here on earth and have nothing in heaven.
When we renounce all the richest here on earth, certainly we
would be the poorest here on earth. Yet, because it is what it takes
in loving God, what could possibly go wrong? “Love never fails”, and
only by loving Him, all will be well. Yes, as we choose to be the
poorest for the love of God, he will provide everything for us.
Those whose hands are full shall not be given any more, but those
whose hands are empty shall be given more. Because those who
are rich have everything they need, but the Lord looks to the
poorest of all, because they have nothing, and He will be the one
that will provide for them their need. Because the rich only love
their wealth, and the poor loves God, whom they trust that they
will be given. “He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich, he
sent away empty.” (Lk. 1:53).
By renouncing all the worldly riches that could detach us from
loving God, it would make us pleasing to God. For it is for the
love of God that we are called. These worldly things will pass
away, and all of it will disappear, but the love of God does not. As
we choose to be the poorest here on earth, God will provide
everything even we are still on earth, how much more in heaven.
We should not love the richest or material things that are keeping
us far away from God, what God wants, is to love him, who is the
eternal treasure, and cannot be equaled to any treasure here in this
world.
Let us then trust only in his love, though we have nothing at hand,
our hands are empty, for we lose everything we have only for
loving him, God is the only thing that we need, he alone suffices
our need. We need not have these richest on earth, “Solo Dios
Basta” (St. Teresa of Avilla), God alone suffices, and nothing else.
We should love him more than the treasures here on earth. He is
more precious than gold, diamonds, or any jewels here on earth. In
fact, he is the source of all richest. Who then shall we love? For
God alone is the best treasure that we should have.
We are pleasing in the eyes if we love, for love alone counts. But it
is not only loving any of the things here on earth. What he wants
from us is to love him alone. Because there are many things here
on earth that could deceive us, things that could keep us far away
from God if we love these things more than him. We must
renounce all richest here on earth that are only passing. We must
be the poorest for the love of God. To be poorest doesn’t mean
we have nothing. No, we are the poorest because we love God,
and in God, we have everything, more treasurable than any richest
here below. For the poorest here on earth, will have everything in
heaven. That is why God wanted us to love him.
 XIV
“Jesus claims no more from us; He does not need our work, only our
Love.”
Our vocation is love, and it is our mission, only to love. But that
love must always be rooted in God and to love also is for the glory
of God. In that case, it seems that we have nothing to do, nothing
except love. By loving we are manifesting also the love of God
because love is always rooted in the one who is love himself, who
is God. So, there is nothing else, unless we love, and it is what
Jesus wanted from us, our love.
He does not need our work. But it doesn’t mean that we should
not work, that’s not the point that St. Thérèse wanted to tell us.
For me, “Jesus did not need our work only our love” means, we must first
consider love in everything we do. The primacy of love in
everything. Like what St. Paul wrote, even he can have the
knowledge, speaking with the tongues of earth and of an angel,
even he offers his body and give away everything he owns, without
love it is nothing. Without love, our deeds would be hollow,
meaningless and insignificant, if there is no love. Even we work
hard, pushing our limits, even we strive hard, we are just doing it
because it needs to be done, without love, it would be unfruitful, it
would be meaningless, or we do not even feel that we enjoyed our
works. We must know, that it is a must that in everything we do,
we must love. Do you agree?
Come to think of it. If we are doing things, even how hard it is,
even it seems to be heavy work, and sometimes we must rush to
finish our work. But if we love what we are doing, we will not
notice that we are about to finish our work because we enjoy it, we
do it with love. Even how tired we are, but if we love our works, at
the end of the day, you will realize that we are fruitful in our
works, we find meaning in what we do, we saw how significant our
work is because we love our work. On the other hand, if we don’t
love our works, certainly we easily get stressed, we tend to be
complacent, we are doing things for the sake of doing it, and
certainly, we don’t find the meaning of why we are doing it,
because there is no love. If we just force ourselves in doing things
without loving our works, what’s inside our mind will always be
the burden that our works brought us, and not the importance of
why we are doing it.
Even in our hard works, we may bathe in our own sweat already,
or even when our eyes are about to drop because of drowsiness,
we keep pushing through. We cannot do it if we don’t love. Even
in the little things that we do, even how little it is, we can discover
the great meaning of why we are doing it because we put love in
things that we are doing.
The same as we are doing good deeds. Generosity is a good deed,
and for sure it is driven because of love, but not all who seems to
be generous are loving their work as generous person. I know that
you are seeing it also. Some people are fond of giving as their work
of generosity, but sometimes they are doing it because they wanted
to give, but they are doing it for a public display. They do it
because they wanted to appear as good persons, they are doing it
so that people would praise them for their goodness, to gain public
honor and popularity. They are doing things for their personal
gain, and not because of love. Of course, not all people are like
that, I am not generalizing the situation, but it is the reality. What
they are doing is hollow and meaningless, because it is without
love, they only wanted to appear as good persons. It is nothing at
all because there is no sincerity in their hearts and even they give
things conditionally, hence it is not loving. Because “love does not
seek its own interest”, it only seeks for the good of all. Loving is not
to gain something for ourselves, but loving is for someone to gain
something from ourselves. Because loving is self-giving, even we
lose everything, even we have nothing left, yes it is painful, it is
painful because we love, and that is what true love is. Like the
poor widow in the Gospel, she only put two small coins in the
contribution, but Jesus said she gave more than those who
contribute their surplus money (Lk. 21:1-4). Maybe those two
small coins are the last money that the widow has, still, out of love,
she gave it even how painful it is on her part. She gave even
herself, yet, behind the painfulness of losing, there is a joy because
of love. So, even we offer only little things to God, but out of love,
in the eyes of God, it is the greatest.
We must love in everything we do, for Jesus only looks for our
love. Even we do great things, but if we do not love, all will be
nothing, all will just be hallow. Jesus does not need our works,
because prior to everything we do, we must love, and do things for
love. There is no more important than loving, all will simply follow
as we start loving. All good deeds are useless and meaningless if it
is only done for personal gain, that is not loving. But in doing
things out of love, we must give ourselves, we must strive for
others’ gain and not ours. Loving is self-giving, and we must give
ourselves in everything we do, manifesting the love of God. Just
love, and there is no more important than to love.
 XV
“I know my God, that ‘love is repaid by love alone’ and so I have
sought and found a way to ease my heart by giving love for love”.
In loving, we give ourselves. We are doing things out of love
because it is what Jesus wanted us, more than our works. In giving
ourselves in the things that we are doing and in our good deeds,
we may lose something, but yet, we feel more joy than pain
because we are loving in everything we do. We should not be
afraid of losing everything, we should not cease giving love, we
might not gain something, but what we will receive upon giving is
the love itself, which is more precious than any other thing. Love
begets love, love is repaid by love.
By giving love, we receive love also. In the sincerity of our hearts,
we are showing and giving love to other people. If our love is
sincere, many will appreciate it, many will discover what lies within
the good things we have done. By loving we may touch other’s
hearts, that they may give light to their hearts so that they may start
loving also. In a sincere giving of love, expect that we may also
receive love. Although in our self-giving, we are not expecting of
return or prioritizing our self-interest. But, upon showing
goodness out of love, we will be surprised that if one day we are in
need and because we touch other’s hearts, out of love, they will
also offer their selves to help us.
So even when we lose everything upon giving, out of love,
nevertheless, through the love of God, we will also receive love
from him and through the people around us. As we go back to the
beginning, at first there is only God, who is love himself. Then we
are called by God to love, to enter into the circle of love. In the
circle of love, we are called to live a loving life, and every day of
our lives we must put love in everything. Because by giving
ourselves out of love, we are also receiving love. From love to love
and to return in love. So there is nothing more to lose. Even we
offer a single form of love, a hundredfold will return to us.
Self-giving would be hard, it would be painful, but, the love that
we are offering, will be the one to revive us, to rejuvenate and give
us more strength to continue loving, to ease our hearts to give
more love. Sometimes we are overcome by limitations, as I have
reflected, we cannot love fully, because we are limited, but if we
ask the love of God to manifest in ourselves, there, even in our
limitations, we can transcend, and let the love of God work in us.
Furthermore, St. Thérèse wrote, “What I ask for is love. One thing, my
Jesus to love you.” We cannot love fully, that’s why there is a need of
asking the unlimited and unsurpassable love of God to work in us
as we must love God too. So, if sometimes we feel that we are
exhausted from giving ourselves out of love, we must always
remember that by loving God, we also are rejuvenated by his love,
with his love, we are regaining more strength to love again and
again.
Let us not cease our hearts on giving love, rather ease our hearts
by giving love. For as we love, we will also receive love. We should
not hesitate to follow the calling of God, our vocation, for by
loving and self-giving we may lose what we have, but we will never
lose that love of God. Love will continually regain us, even we
cannot love fully, but the love of God does, thus, we should allow
the love of God to work in us. So in everything we do, we are
loving unceasingly. Even to lose ourselves. Because that is loving
and self-giving is, we must lose anything we have to those who do
not have, so that they may have something at hand. And we
should not be afraid of losing, for, in any single form of love we
have done, we will receive a hundredfold in return. Because love is
repaid by love alone. So let us ease our hearts by giving love for
love. “To love and to be loved and come back to earth to win love for our
love”. (St. Thérèse).

XVI
“For God alone”
In this particular words that St. Thérèse wrote, I would like to
express my reflections in a form of a poem.

For God alone, will my hands must work

To lend it to those who need help
To hold those who are about to let go
To give what I have to those who are empty-handed
And to point the path that God has prepared for us
 For God alone, will my mouth must speak
To tell his greatness and glory
To let my voices sing his goodness and love
To proclaim the Good News to every corner of the World
To let my mouth speak what he wanted me to speak

For God alone, will my feet must walk

To tread the path that he wanted us to tread
To venture with Him in the wilderness and even to the deserts
To walk with those who have no companion
And to walk to follow His footsteps

For God alone, will my ears hear

To listen to His still small voice
To listen in his calling every day of my life
To listen to the voices of those who are in need
And to listen in His tender voice saying “I have loved you”
 For God alone, will my eyes must see
To see the His light amidst the darkness
To be amused in everything he has given me
To notice those who are unseen and despised by others
And to see how great the Lord our God

For God alone, will my heart must love

To love Him more than treasures here below
To love nothing but Him and His people
To love others as I am loved by Him
And to love and to be loved, by God who is love himself

We are chosen by God as his own, and he loved us his children.

Although we may fail, yet every day of our life we are called to
choose him. To serve and work for him alone. There is nothing
here below that we own, all of it is from God and not ours. Even
our lives, everything we have is not ours, our eyes, our mouth, our
hearts are from God, and we must live our life only for Him.
Because it is the fact, that at the end of time, we will return to him.
We are all called to live, love, and do everything “For God Alone”.
 XVII
“Charity took possession of my heart making me forget myself and I
have been happy ever since.”
Self-giving out of love, in short charity. As a whole, Charity or
“caritas” is called Christian love, and it is the love that God wanted
us to have, to be charitable. Charity is not always giving something;
charity is more about giving ones’ self to others. To forget
ourselves in the needs of others, to fill others’ emptiness first
rather than to prioritize ourselves.
There are many charitable works like feeding the hungry, visiting
the sick, giving a home to the orphans, visiting the prisoners,
giving water to those who are thirsty, and many more charitable
acts. But these things are too great for us, although we want to do
it but there is a fact that could prevent us from doing it because
they are too great. As we acknowledge ourselves, we can only do
little things. “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one” (St.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta), because even in the little things we
could be charitable. It is also the spirituality of St. Thérèse, her
“little way”, that she believes that even in the little things, we could
be charitable. Because she said that she can only offer little things
to God, yet great in the eyes of God. So in our act of charity, we
need not perform great things, we don’t need to be recognized
while doing charitable things, we could be charitable in silence
because God himself sees us and he will be more pleased when we
act in silence our charity.
Charity, although can be performed in a very little way, yet, it takes
great humility to do things. Humility is a factor of being a
charitable person. Without humility, we cannot give ourselves fully
to others. Even in doing practical things, for instance, picking
rubbish on the ground, or arranging some disorganized things. It
takes great humility to kneel and pick up the rubbish, yet even in
that little way, we are doing charity.
In the little things we have done, from there, it will grow, from
little to greatest. As we practice charity in little things, someday it
will turn into great things, and we are now able to offer ourselves
for a greater task or act of charity. It is not easy, as I have reflected
in my previous reflections, to forget ourselves for others, to give
everything we have even to the last. It is painful, but because we
are loving, it will turn into the sweetest sacrifice, it is a charity then.
We forget ourselves, we give everything and even it is painful, still
out of love we continue to be charitable, we continue to be loving.
Although we are emptying ourselves, we will find joy, although we
are about to lose everything we have, still, there is the joy of
fulfillment, because that love that we offer will be the one to
rejuvenate us and push us to continue loving.
We could always be charitable, even with the little things, they are
little and even done in silence, yet God sees it, and it is the greatest
in his eyes. We cannot be charitable if we don’t forget ourselves
for others. Loving others is self-giving, hence we must forget
ourselves for others. By the little things we do, eventually, as we
continue to practice charity, we can be more charitable, we could
offer more of ourselves. Though we may lose everything we have,
the return is a hundredfold and more than what we are expecting.
 -It’s all about Love-

“What is a rose if not the most beautiful symbol of love?” This the words
that Our Blessed Mother said to Fr. Gobbi (From the Book of
“Marian Movement for Priests”). Indeed roses are the symbol of love,
and these are the roses that I have gathered from the writings of
St. Thérèse. It’s all about love, from the very beginning of my
reflections, it’s all speaking about one thing, love. These roses I
have collected from St. Thérèse writings are speaking the same
way, as I find insights and wisdom upon reflecting on it. The
loveliness of God, the calling to love, and why we have to love.

These roses inspired me, and I want also to share them with you, I
want also to share the love that I have felt in these roses I have
gathered. Now I have lent these roses for you, now, see and feel
how great is the love of God for us. As St. Thérèse wrote, “I can
prove my love only by scattering flowers”, and these flowers are the roses
now that I have gathered for you. It is my little way and my little
love that I offered for you.
Dearest little sister, “little rose”.

I hope you enjoyed my little offering to you, I hope that I

have shown you the love of God. This little offering of my little
love desires to help you and encourage you. I gave my heart
through this journal yet, you must thank God for this and not me
alone, he is the one who inspires me to write these words for you.
I also wanted to thank you for all your prayers, for a rose that you
planted in my heart because with it, it is what keeps me on doing
this little offering of love. Let us not forget to thank God for
everything we have, for our spiritual companionship. For you have
been given by God for me, and me for you. Let us pray for one
another. I promise my prayers for you, little rose.

To God be the Glory!