When we examine the spiritual doctrine of St. Therese it becomes clear that although she spoke about childhood and littleness, she does not encourage people to become infantile or ignorant. We could see part of the doctrine of spiritual childhood expressed in today’s Gospel about being messengers of peace. Living the little way of love means bringing the Gospel of peace with us wherever we go. We are not ignorant or unaware of the brokenness of our world and of the hearts of men. We are not surprised that people are violent, mean and hateful. Facing the wolves, however, we are not afraid of what they can do to us. “Fear not the one who can only destroy your body. Fear the one who can cast both body and soul into Gehenna.” We fear only God, but spiritual childhood teaches us to see God as our Father and to trust that He is teaching us how to take the difficult step through death to eternity. The fearlessness we are called to embrace before the peril of the Cross is not military-grade mental or physical toughness – it is the calm and gentle conviction that our Father is lovingly guiding us through death to new life. We can be abandoned to that love no matter how painful life may become. We can continue to be at peace even when others work to destroy peace. read more
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