St. Therese's astonishing trust in God

by Connie Rossini

St. Therese trusted God daringly (Photo Credit: Wikipedia).

The other day, I read this passage from one of St. Therese of Lisieux‘s letters, in Jacques Philippe’s The Way of Trust and Love:

“[A child who has sinned] throws himself into his father’s arms, telling him that he is sorry to have hurt him, that he loves him, and that he will prove it by being good from now on… Then, if that child asks his father to punish him with a kiss, I don’t think the happy father could harden his heart against his child’s filial trust, knowing his sincerity and love.”

St. Therese is saying that when we sin, we should trust God so much as to ask Him to bless us in lieu of punishment.

Does this astonish you? It did me. Human nature says that when we sin, we should run away from God like Adam did. We expect God to reject us, even when we do come to Him in repentance.

Be daring in your trust

But Therese is bold, “daring” as she herself said. She asked for a kiss from God whenever she sinned. And she became “the greatest saint of modern times,” according to Blessed John Paul II!

You might be thinking, “Yeah, but Therese’s sins weren’t like mine. She only committed tiny venial sins, while I…” (You name it.) You’re right. Your sins probably are worse than hers. So are mine. But if you are a Christian, your God is exactly the same as hers was. And that’s the whole point.


Read more about St. Therese's trust at  Contemplative Homeschool.