Category: holiness

Love Within, Without, and Eternal

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Eternal Life, Faith, holiness, Love1 Comment

October 15, 2026
Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we celebrate the great Saint Teresa of Ávila. Teresa was a Spanish noblewoman who became a Carmelite nun, mystic, religious reformer, author, theologian, and first female Doctor of the Church.

Teresa taught that God is within us. Our spiritual journey is one of awareness, not distance. In her masterpiece, The Interior Castle, she wrote: 

“Remember that within you a
is a palace of immense magnificence, 
and he who built it is the King himself.”

The more aligned we are with God’s interior presence, the more we are impelled to share God’s love. Teresa believed that we could do this in the simplest of ways:

“The Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, 
or even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.”
—The Interior Castle

It seems fitting that on this particular feast day, our reading invites us to offer prayerful praise through the magnificent Ephesians Hymn. These verses comprise a foundational New Testament canticle that beautifully frames the glory of God’s redemptive plan.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,
as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and without blemish before him.

Ephesians 1:3-6

As we pray this glorious passage, we give thanks that, like Paul, Teresa taught us to recognize, love, and praise God’s dynamic presence within us, and revealed in the unfolding of our lives. Let your heart and spirit thrill to that thought as you ponder this exquisite scripture passage today.

Music: Ephesians Hymn – Suzanne Toolan, RSM

Suggested Reading:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,
as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and without blemish before him.
In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ,
in accord with the favor of his will,
for the praise of the glory of his grace
that he granted us in the beloved.

In Christ we have redemption by his Blood,
the forgiveness of transgressions,
in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us.
In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us
the mystery of his will in accord with his favor
that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times,
to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.

Ephesians 1:1-10

Little But Fierce

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Books, Courage, Discipleship, Faith, holiness, saints, spirituality2 Comments

October 1, 2026
Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

These storybooks are available in reprint from Angelus Press.

https://angeluspress.org/products/miniature-stories-of-the-saints-set-of-9?srsltid=AfmBOoodOgGAeokq3m-vA8I988zx_K3aMVyqdSRb8SdBQ4rfwJjuxoYw

In the mid-1940s, while the world was at war, a young Jesuit named Daniel Lord wrote a series of little books about the saints. If you are a Catholic of a certain age, you may remember those colorful illustrations peeking from parish book racks or classroom shelves.

I loved these mini-books. In my pre-teen years, I read them over and over, imagining how I might align my life to some of their stories so that I too might become a saint! 

I had favorites that I wanted to imitate, and others whose challenges I definitely preferred to avoid. The stories of the martyrs like Sebastian (of the arrows) and Catherine of Alexandria (of the torture wheel) fascinated me, but did not invite my imitation.

Canonization of St. Elizabeth of Hungary – Sándor Liezen-Mayer

Instead, I thought I might like to be like Elizabeth of Hungary, a queen who carried food to the poor in her luxurious apron. Or maybe like Francis Xavier, who went to the far reaches of the Orient to share the Gospel. Unfortunately, I think I was more attracted by their attire and travelogues than by their call to holiness.

Still, those stories shaped my budding spirituality and left me with a challenge that has endured for eight decades. The challenge? You are called to be a saint. What will your story be? How will that call unfold in your life?

All of my early “storybook” saints led heroic lives. Their stories were full of drama, pathos, and astounding courage – just what a young person craves. I fed on their inspiration to make my early commitment to a faith-directed life.

It was only later that I embraced the quiet saint, Thérèse of Lisieux. She hadn’t attracted me when I was young. Maybe I felt we had nothing in common because I was tall, and she was  “Little”. Who knows why a teenage mind chooses one hero and not another?

But in my early twenties – when teenage wishes slowly become grounded hopes and vivid imagination assumes the shape of everyday realities – I was a young nun. And I needed models to teach me the transformation from untested self-confidence to grateful responsibility.

It slowly dawned on me that holiness might be measured less by courageous deeds than by selfless love. As daily scriptural prayer revealed humility’s essential role in holiness, I remembered that little chapbook page about Thérèse.

Later, as I read her autobiography, I realized that although her life was simple, her spirituality was richly complex. She experienced spiritual delight and darkness, each in profound measure. Humble and self-effacing, she was nonetheless fierce in her love, faith, and trust in God.

Meditating on her, I didn’t see a physically delicate, sweet woman who died too young. 

  • I saw a woman on fire with life and with God, whose soul burned so brightly because surrender to grace kept its flame vibrant.
  • I saw a brilliant, though simply educated, mind placed in the service of an even more dazzling soul.
  • I saw an acute assessor of humanity reach beyond the obvious for God’s sometimes shrouded presence in every person.
  • I saw a martyr who, unlike Sebastian, never bled. I saw a missionary who, unlike Xavier, never sailed.
  • I saw a saint whose “Little Way” might work for most of us who lead ordinary, “little” lives.
  • Thérèse didn’t live long enough to show us what “The Little Way” would look like when it had aged like fine wine. Those of us who loved Daniel Lord’s books in the 1940s and 50s are tasked with that witness – in a world still at war; in a world still longing for humble mutuality and spiritual courage.

Today, on her feast day, I pray:
Dear Little Flower, please help us on our “way”.

Music: God Is Not In the Sky. Look Inside You. – Interpretation of Rumi

Suggested Scripture: Luke 16:10-14

Click for Scripture

For Your Reflection:

  • What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
  • Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ? 
  • What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?