It's Just a Little Thing

 

I napped a bit before heading out for my night prayers, but I awoke before the alarm.  Lying on the couch, I saw the unread copy of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.  As I read, some articles held my interest, but the story on St. Therese of Lisieux – The Story of a Soul Who Lived the “Little Way” --- caught my attention.  I’ve read her life story, Story of a Soul, before and know of her “Little Way” to holiness.  She wrote: “You can see that I am a very little soul and that I can offer God only very little things.”  She died at age 24 of TB.  She said she’d spend her days in heaven praying for souls on earth.  I only glanced at the OSV article, seeing the highlights --- which were old news to me --- but then my eyes caught sight of this little story of her life:

“While still a novice, she volunteered to accompany this elderly, grumpy nun from choir to dinner every day” (then followed some examples of her grumpiness).  But one day “Therese helped the old nun get seated, turned up her sleeves --- just the way her companion wanted them – and prepared to leave.  But … she observed that arthritis made it hard for Sister St. Pierre to cut her bread.  So, without being asked, she cut the old woman’s bread, ‘gave her my most beautiful smile,’ and left.  ‘It was by this means that I gained her entire good graces.’”

I’ve written before how I light a small vigil candle in front of the statues of Mary and St. Joseph each week.  My prayer then always is: “May I be a small light in this world.”  I never had considered that perhaps I was echoing the prayer of St. Therese, praying to do just a little thing for His greater glory.  Like her, I don’t want any recognition, what I do is just a little thing.  Reading that story of her simple act and the response it triggered, it resonated with my life today, and how little things can make a big difference.

I wrote how these last few weeks have been very busy for me.  It started with the strange urge to get involved in a new men’s group, The Warriors of St. Michael, which was started at my parish.  The name and focus of the group is to encourage men to step up and “be the men they were made to be.”  Quickly after, I felt urged to join two local parish men’s groups, to basically urge the same thing.  I wrote up simple examples of things I had done or heard of others doing, witnessing their faith to family, friends and even strangers. The examples resonated with the men I spoke to, who felt the need to step up, to step out in witness of their faith.  The little examples gave them courage --- and some excitement.

I don’t want to run the men’s groups.  It seems the Spirit gave me ideas and I just passed them on to the event leaders, like little seeds He’d have me sow with His graces.  But …. Maybe the Holy Spirit Himself was urged to send me those graces to open my heart, by a little nun in heaven, praying for those still on earth, so that we can love as we were meant to love, in little ways --- yet make so much of a needed difference.