"Do you reject Satan?"
"I do," I answered.
But trembled at the mention of that Name.
"And all His works?"
"I do," I said again,
looking the bishop in the eye
and praying fervently that I would.
"And all His empty promises?"
"I do!" But my soul cried out,
"No! I don't! I'll never be able
to reject them!"
It was the fall of 1974.
I was the only grownup in a pew filled with teenaged
Confirmation candidates reciting their nervous "I do's."
As a recent convert, ex-druggie, long-time drunk, and former soldier, I was acquainted with the night.
Memories of past sins danced in my mind. Nonetheless, that night — and with all my strength — I chose goodness.
* * *
I soon found that Confirmation didn't banish temptation;
it didn't drive out despair. Weeks later, troubled by my continued sinfulness and seeking distraction, I happened on the Confirmation gift my sponsor had given me: Fr. Jean D'Elbée's beloved book on the spirituality of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who spent most of her brief life in a cloistered convent.
What could such an innocent teach me?
My eyes fell on this passage:
"I ask that from now on, you never let your past sins be an obstacle between you and Jesus. It's a ruse of the devil to keep putting our sins before our eyes in order to make them like a screen between the Savior and us."
A ruse of the devil?
"Think of your past sins to persuade yourself of your weakness; think of them to confirm your resolution not to fall again -- that's necessary -- but think of them mainly to bless Jesus for having pardoned you, for having purified you, for having cast all your sins to the bottom of the sea.
"Do not go looking for them at the bottom of the sea!
He has wiped them out; He has forgotten them."
But I haven't forgotten them -- and I continue to fall.
"I'm not saying that you believe too much in your own wretchedness. I'm telling you that you don't believe enough in merciful love."
* * *
And in another place:
"Why are you here?
Why were you baptized?
Why have you learned to know
Jesus and to love him?"
The answer?
"Because God has chosen you, and preferred you from all eternity, to heap these graces upon you."
And:
"God's greatest pleasure is to pardon us. The good Lord is more eager to pardon a repentant sinner than a mother to rescue her child from the fire."
* * *
That last point makes sense of Our Lord's words to a holy soul: "Not a single soul falls into Hell that has not torn itself out of my arms."
No wonder St. Thérèse was able to say, just before her death:
"Even if I had committed all possible crimes, I would still have the same confidence;I would feel that this multitude of offenses would be like a drop of water thrown into the flaming furnace of God's love."
"This classic beautifully reveals God's deep love for each of us and awakens in us a burning love for Him. If you want to grow in love of God, this book is a must."
Fr. Benedict Groeschel
The pages of this book transformed my understanding of God; they brought my soul its first peace in decades.
* * *
Listen now -- quietly --
and let it bring you peace, too:
"I assure you, we are bathed in love and mercy. We each have a Father, a Brother, a Friend, a Spouse of our soul, bent down over us, over our weakness and impotence, with inexpressible gentleness, watching over us like the apple of His eye, Who said 'I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I have not come to call the just, but sinners.'
"This Jesus is haunted by the desire to save us by all means; He has opened Heaven under our feet."
"I heartily endorse this book. It is the best application of St. Thérèse's teaching for individuals seeking to live it daily."
Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR
Franciscan University of Steubenville
Are you troubled by your sins?
Afraid you don't love enough?
"In the same way that Jesus said to St. Augustine,
'You would not seek me if you had not already found me,'
He will say to you, 'You would not have this great desire
to love me if you did not love me already.' He cannot fail to fulfill, beyond even our greatest hopes, a desire that He himself has inspired."
In just a few hours, this singular book, aptly entitled I Believe in Love, showed me I had to quit judging myself and seek but a single treasure: abandonment to God's mercy.
In three decades now as a Catholic convert, that's the only program for the interior life I've found to be within my reach.
Today, it's within your reach, too.
John Barger
Publisher Emeritus,
Sophia Institute Press
P.S. Please forward this message to those you know who may be struggling with guilt and discouragement. I assure you that St. Thérèse will give them the hope and the courage they need, and that God wants them to have.
"Whoever reads this book attentively and prayerfully will grow in the love of God."
Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J.
Homiletic and Pastoral Review
I Believe in Love:
A Personal Retreat Based on the Teaching of St. Therese of Lisieux
$18.95 — 304 pages |
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"I Believe in Love penetrates to the heart
of a saint who, through love and humility,
the Christ of the heart."
Joseph Pearce
"Sophia Institute Press has done us all a great service in bringing this work back into print."
Thomas Howard
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After you learn about God's merciful love from the Little Flower, continue to feed your heart and soul with this powerful book on St. Teresa of Calcutta and her mission of love for Christ. |
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The countless sweet photos of her smiling at babies showed Mother  Teresa to be a single-minded advocate for the poor. But she was a woman with a will whose strength has been matched by few souls in history. Mother Teresa broke death’s stranglehold on the poor of Calcutta, and she showed us how to conquer the sin and darkness in what she called the “slums of the hearts of modern man.”
Part biography and part spiritual reading, these pages bring to light little-known stories from Mother Teresa’s life that will help you to grow in your love of God. You will learn her approach to reading Scripture, what enabled her to persevere through agonizing nights, and the remarkable — some would say mystical — events that led her to start the Missionaries of Charity.
We are all called to holiness, and the saints are sent to us as “real life” examples of God’s love. With Mother Teresa as your guide, you’ll learn how to follow God’s call and find holiness in a world marked by the shadow of death and growing indifference to God. Indeed, you’ll learn how to be an everyday missionary of Christ’s love in the ordinary activities of your daily life.
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