Day By Day #6

Day by Day #6

MORNING/MIDDAY OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:14–18

And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Devotional

At the age of fifteen, Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin obtained special permission to enter a Carmelite monastic community in Lisieux, a small town in northwestern France. We know her today as Thérèse of Lisieux. Although she died at age twenty-four, theologians have spent a century commenting on the depth and originality of her spiritual insights.

Her focus on loving and serving God in the ordinary circumstances of life became known as the “little way.” It grew out of Jesus’ command: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14). Thérèse was convinced that Jesus wanted us to live lives of great love that came from a childlike trust in God. She did this by offering God small, everyday acts of love: going out of her way to befriend the crankiest nun in the convent; refusing to complain when accused of a wrong she didn’t commit; choosing to cheerfully and silently endure a cold bedroom, an insult, or another nun’s tendency of splashing dirty water on her when they did laundry together.^a

But I want to seek . . . a little way that is very straight, very short, a completely new little way. . . . My mortifications [putting to death her flesh] consisted in breaking my will, which was always ready to impose itself; in holding my tongue instead of answering back; in doing little things for others without hoping to get anything in return.^b

This is how my life will be consumed. . . . strewing flowers, that is, not allowing one sacrifice to escape, not one look, one word, profiting by all the smallest things and doing them through love.^c

Thérèse of Lisieux offered up these slights and sufferings as flowers to her heavenly Father, recognizing them as opportunities for her to express her love for God.

Question to Consider

How might you follow a “little way” of love today in a situation where you might otherwise express annoyance, impatience, or frustration?

Prayer

Father, this is challenging, very challenging. Viewing people as annoyances, interruptions, or even the enemy is a large part of how I behave each day. I ask you to heal and deliver me that I might see difficult people as a means of grace that you can use to break my will and transform me into a gentle, kind, and loving person. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

MIDDAY/EVENING OFFICE

Silence and Stillness before God (2 minutes)

Scripture Reading

The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways. (Proverbs 14:8)

The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps. (Proverbs 14:15)

Desire without knowledge is not good—how much more will hasty feet miss the way! (Proverbs 19:2)

A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense. (Proverbs 19:11)

The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. (Proverbs 22:3)

Devotional

The book of Proverbs often contrasts two types of people: those who are fools (or simple) and those who are wise (or prudent).

Fools are naive and easily influenced. They don’t want to do the hard work of thinking things through and asking hard questions. They make assumptions rather than checking the facts. Their decisions are often rushed, impulsive, and focused on short-term, quick-fix solutions.

In contrast, the wise think ahead and exercise good judgment. They are not swept up by impulse or emotion. Prudent people are cautious and carefully consider all relevant factors, possibilities, difficulties, and outcomes. Perhaps most importantly, those who are wise refuse to make quick judgments. They clarify expectations and don’t make hasty or unrealistic assumptions of others.

Question to Consider

In what kind of situations is it most difficult for you to pause and give thought to your ways?

Prayer

Lord, grant me a discerning heart so that I might readily distinguish wisdom from foolishness. I ask for grace to resist jumping to conclusions and hastily making assumptions about others. Help me to patiently consider my actions and my words. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)

^a For additional information, see Colleen Carroll Campbell, My Sisters the Saints: A Spiritual Memoir (New York: Image, 2012), 35–36.

^b St. Thérèse of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul: A New Translation, trans. and ed. Robert J. Edmonson, CJ (Brewster, Mass.: Paraclete Press, 2006), 230, 164.

^c Stephen Payne OCD, and Phyllis Zagano, The Carmelite Tradition, Spirituality in History Series (Collegeville, Minn.: Order of St. Benedict, 2011), 124.