St. Therese of Liseux
Are You A Saint?
6th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year A
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: February 15, 2026
If someone was becoming Catholic and was wondering what they needed to do, how would you answer? One basic response could be this, “Be Holy.” Become a Saint. Being Catholic is a call to be holy. The problem is that many of us think that being holy is for the great saints. Being holy is for some important person, it is for somebody else. A simple person like me is not holy. Often because we have a false idea of what it means to be holy.
When I was on my one week tour in Normandy France, we visited the various sites connected to St. Therese of Lisieux. What an interesting life and saint. She lived in a family with 5 daughters. Her mother died when she was just 4 years old and this led her to real grief. Then when she was 15 years old Therese was intent on entering the Carmelite convent. This was at first rejected by the Convent as she was too young, also by her bishop. But, she would not give up and was persistent, finally being accepted into the convent. She lived a quiet, hidden life in that convent until she unfortunately died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. We were told there that there were only 30 people at her funeral.
But, after her death some of her writings about her youth and about her spirituality were shared and soon she became well known. She inspired many until she was canonized and even became a Doctor of the Church and the patron Saint of Missions. Many come from all over the world to pilgrimage in Lisieux. We also have a pilgrimage site in Niagara Falls at Mount Carmel that is dedicated to St. Therese.
Her spirituality was called “the little way.” She emphasized doing small, everyday actions with great love rather than seeking big, heroic deeds. She once said, “kindness is my only guiding star.” Her way of holiness attracts so many because it makes our simple daily lives a path to being a saint. Being patient and kind in my simple family life. Praying and celebrating the Sacraments with trust. We do not achieve holiness, we receive it as a humble little child.
Eventually, the parents of St. Therese have also been canonized. In fact, they are the only married couple where both are canonized saints. All married couples, you are also called to become saints as a married couple.
St. Paul speaks of “God’s wisdom, secret and hidden.” Paul continues, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.” St. Therese really loved Jesus. She received God’s love deep in her heart.
Yes, each of us as Catholics are called to be holy. Called to be a saint. First step is to know yourself as deeply loved by God. You do not need to do anything big or outstanding. St. Therese lived a hidden life. Live her “little way.” Do everything and be with everyone in a way of love.
Doing the dishes, phoning a friend who is alone, coming to Mass, whatever your duty is, do it with love.
Be Holy. Be a Saint. Be reconciled with others. Be faithful to your commitments. Each Catholic is called to be Holy, to be a Saint. Real holiness enters the depth of the wisdom of God, it leads to communion, harmony and faithful love.
Cooperating With God The Little Way
18th Sunday In Ordinary Time
Deacon Robin Mendonca
Preached: August 2, 2020
Introduction
A seminarian friend of mine was telling me about some advice his pastor gave him as he journeyed to the priesthood, the pastor said, “Don’t wait until you have enough food to feed people. Don’t wait for enough money, skills or talents to care for and share with them. Just empty your pocket first and do the best you can out of your love; and, God will provide the rest.” He was sharing his own experience of this gospel of seeing Jesus prepare a meal for over 5000 people from practically nothing. It’s obvious that what is taking place is a logical impossibility. There is no way that this can be anything other than a miracle and in fact it’s probably Jesus’ most famous miracle.
Jesus responds to the little the Apostles had
But to get inside of what’s happening let’s take a deeper look at the miracle and the characters in the gospel narrative and how they each respond in their own capacity to a need they see before them. We have Jesus and we have the disciples. (Some accounts of this story also say that we have a boy who provides the 5 loaves of bread and two fishes.) But, regardless, the gospel does not tell us that Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish, put them in big piles and had the disciples distribute them. But rather what we see are the disciples giving the very little and insignificant contribution they had and Jesus multiplying it. This is when the miracle happens: when the disciples share the “little” they had.
St. Therese of Lisieux’s “Little Way”
This reminds me of the “little way” of St. Therese of Lisieux. The “little way” seeks to answer the question: What is the demand of love in the present moment? Or How can I love more right now? See I think, it’s easy to get caught up in trying to determine how to make an impact on the world or in our lives. But we forget that big impacts come about from many little daily choices.
In the little way of St. Therese, we can find that often the opportunity for us to love more comes about in the little things of regular life. A small yes here and there or an offer to help, stopping to have a small conversation when we could easily without anyone knowing the difference, returning a phone call, sharing a smile or a welcome or even taking a minute to pray for someone and ask them how they’re doing and there’s countless more. And yes, these seem little, but the littleness of our actions is precisely how we build God’s kingdom. It doesn’t matter if we are young or not so young, women or men, of different backgrounds and nationalities, we must do our best and trust that the Lord will do the rest.
The little way is how we can love God and each other more in the present. And God takes our little and shapes, molds and performs miracles in the bigger picture and the grand scheme of things. [1]
Jesus didn’t have to use the bread and fishes
See, Jesus did not have to use the bread and fishes to feed the people. He could’ve just worked a miracle out of nothing and created more than enough for everyone to eat. He didn’t need any assistance, but he chose to invite the disciples to share in his compassion. He chose to take the generosity of the disciples, the little that they had to offer and bring it to completion by working a miracle that only God could work. This is the little way.
How do we cooperate with God
And that’s really the lesson for us: That when we cooperate with God in the little things, when we share our talents and gifts and make an effort to do the little things well, to reach out to others, to serve others and to give of ourselves, to speak the truth in the small ways. God uses that. It doesn’t mean that the little way is always the easiest way. The apostles had to give the little they had. But God used their generosity.
The same is true for us and a helpful way is to ask ourselves often, “What is the path of love for me? How can I love more in this moment? Right now?” We can ask that question at the beginning of the day, throughout the day and at the end of the day. With time, we will truly see that God accomplishes a lot though us and uses us to further his kingdom here on earth! May God Bless you.
[1] Robert Barron, How to Discern God’s Will for Your Life (Skokie: Word on Fire Ministries, 2016), 3.