INTRODUCTION:

In his latest bestseller "Powerful Prayers", the king of interview asks some of the world's most prominent, glamorous and intriguing figures to answer the most profound questions of our times---questions dealing with the resurgence of faith and spirituality. Larry King explores the intimate prayers of powerful personalities, among them, Rabbi Irwin Katsof, executive vice president of the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah, an international educational organization dedicated to the preservation of Jewish religion and heritage.

During another morning phone meeting with Rabbi Katsof, Larry King comments how on his television show on CNN, there are times when his producers book an "expert" to explain an issue. King complains that in his latest book "it's a shame we can't talk with the major player on this subject. If this were any other issue, I could be talking to the guy at the center of the story." He writes, "We prefer to interview the major player rather than those on the sidelines…And the big mistake, if you ask me is…all I'm getting is a monologue. I'm looking for the dialogue, the other half of the conversation..."

"God doesn't do interviews, Mr. King."

"God is talking, Larry, but you aren't paying attention. The Almighty doesn't communicate like you and me. It's a different language. You have to slow down. God communicates to you through your wife, Shawn; your daughter, Chaia; your show. God uses you to communicate to others. There are no accidents."

There are times when one feels and thinks like Larry Kind. How one wishes that an interview with the "experts" were at all possible. The great spiritual giants, Therese and John have no doubt so much to offer today. Unfortunately, like God, they do not do interviews! Because they lived in another time, their language may seem different, not only in mode but also in content. Nevertheless, the message remains essentially the same. In a world that values speed and efficiency; results over process, one has to learn to pay attention if one is ever to begin the journey towards the wisdom of these spiritual heavyweights.

JOHN AND THERESE: SAME MESSAGE, DIFFERENT MODES:

John of the Cross and Therese of the Child Jesus are like two brilliant stars in the sky of Carmelite spirituality. Both are Doctors of the Church whose writings light up the apophatic way, the via negativa, a journey in darkness. The substance of their doctrine is the same: both tell of the detachment necessary for anyone who is serious about striving for holiness. Both want the journey to be accomplished quickly with as little baggage as possible. Both sing with lyrical joy of the goalunion with the Beloved, and also of the blessedness of the journey together. What Therese expresses through the charm of a childhood anecdote, John of the Cross says in much more solemn words, but the message is the same! Father Marie-Eugene used to refer to Therese as the “most famous of the daughters of John of the Cross.”

Very often people are astonished to think of them together: the 16 th Century Spanish Carmelite friar and the 19 th Century Carmelite nun. Despite their similarities, both Carmelites differed in at least three things: the people for whom they wrote, their educational background and the purpose for which they wrote.

First, it is important to remember that John of the Cross wrote for those whom he called “beginners and proficients.” But his beginners were not really beginners who were at their first stage of wanting God. These people whom he refers to as “beginners” had already spent some time in meditation and are entering the dark night of contemplation. He wrote in the context of Spanish Christianity in the 16 th Century—the Golden Age—addressing himself to people who wanted to seriously engage in the search for God, specially his Carmelite Sisters. His words are aimed at those who feel a dissatisfaction with the prayer of words and thoughts that up till then has given them sure access to God. Now their God seems to be hiding—although at times sweeter and closer than ever. They have experienced a simplification in Prayer with diminishing activity on their part and more quiet listening to God. John speaks specifically on the process of contemplative development. Obviously, if John were to speak on his kind of prayer to a parish gathering, most of his listeners would be at best puzzled, because for the majority of them, to pray means to say something to God. And such a conversation with the Almighty has many people tongue-tied, they have relied on prayers composed by others. They need vocal prayer that gives the mind something to think about. All very, very laudable but not the kind of pray-ers who find John comprehensible.

On the other hand, Therese has little to say about Prayer as such but everything about her God, the God we pray to; so much to say about who we are who we dare to pray; and how much this God longs for our love. Therese wrote without really wanting to, but “out of obedience” --- for the recreation of her sisters as a kind of family remembrance. It was only later that she felt that what she had written would benefit a “great number of little souls.”(Ms. B) If Therese were to speak to a parish gathering, probably everyone would find some nourishment to feed his or her desire for God. Anticipating the texts of Vatican Council II, which call all the baptized to holiness, the young 19 th Century Carmelite wrote in a context of contemporary de-christianization. Her trial of faith and hope placed her at the “table of sinners.”(Ms. C)

Second, John communicates as a poet well trained in Scholastic theory. At times the lyricism sings to us but often the ponderousness of philosophic formulations weighs down the text. We are centuries away from the superb education that John receives from the University of Salamanca, and a few of us turn to the traditions of Aristotle and Plato on which John relied so often. But, John also drew from his own experience and Scripture as well as the legacy of Western Christian mysticism. The well-educated John gives us a systematic presentation of his spiritual doctrine. Each chapter builds on the preceeding one and one can see the framework he uses when he composes his works.

Therese’s education, on the other hand, judged by our standards was very incomplete. She tells us of her great thirst for knowledge but decided to mortify this desire. In the highly charged anti-clerical atmosphere of France’s third republic, a devout Catholic middle-class family like Therese’s would avoid the secular education fostered by the state. Popular preaching would warn Catholics of the scientists with their atheistic materialism, the libertines in the arts with their exuberant hedonism and the liberals with their political malice. It is not surprising then that her understanding of secular subjects was so limited, but she has less excuse for the many errors in her written French. In her writings, Therese moves chronologically: recalling the episodes of her childhood, adolescence, and young womanhood to reflect on the merciful Love that shaped her ongoing years. Therese turns to what she sees around her, the stuff of human living, to make her point. Flowers, sky, birds, toys, an elevator, the grain of sand --- all are put to use to proclaim the wonders of God’s dealing with her. There is a tendency in Therese to overuse diminutives and endearing phrases. Her extended metaphors can also seem sentimental and saccharine to some modern readers, while others may delight in her fresh homey spontaneity. Thus her simple story becomes a song of praise for what God has accomplished in her. She writes, “It seems to me that if a little flower could speak, it would tell simply what God has done for it without trying to hide its blessings.”

Third, the purpose of John of the Cross in his major treatises is also to give his readers a systematic understanding and to awaken in them a yearning for God that would lead to union. Often he uses long, pedantic sentences with absolutist phraseology in the didactic sections. John writes in his Prologue of the Ascent of Mount Carmel, “God gives many souls the talents and grace for advancing, and should they desire to make the effort they would arrive at this high state of union. And so it is sad to see them continue in their lowly method of communion with God because they do not want or know how to advance.” One is a reason of the mind: we do not know how to advance, we are ignorant of the way. The other reason is based on the will: we don’t want to advance because the price is too high.

Therese’s autobiography is her simple attempt to express the tenderness of infinite love poured into her twenty four years of life. As she neared her death, she realized that her personal story could enlighten others and arouse in them something of her desire for divine union.

Thus John and Therese proclaim the same message in different ways. All Carmelite spirituality urges us to stretch ourselves, to keep moving forward, not to settle on a comfortable plateau in our relationship with God. The “repose” of Carmel is far different for the enkindling of love is for the sake of setting us more and more on fire—not for rejoicing in its heat and staying where we are in our relationship with God.

JOHN AND THERESE: A CHALLENGE FOR TODAY:

There is no doubt that great masters in Christian spirituality, such as St. Therese of the Child Jesus and St. John of the Cross, have much to say to the contemporary world. In order to catch these insights, we need to be able to read them from a perspective different from that of the past years. Both Doctors of the Church, Therese and John have been recognized by the Christian Community as sources of sound teaching valid for the whole Church in every age. This means that their works can be read and re-read with new insights precisely because the community that reads them have themselves grown and discovered new depths and broader horizons. Thus, by reading Therese and John from the vantage point of new thrusts and stances of Christian Faith, the community can find in them principles and approaches which will enhance the Christian life of God’s People today.

“The most famous daughter of St. John of the Cross…” --- that is how Father Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus describes Therese. We would seek in vain in her writings and sayings for words like “active night of the senses, passive nights of the spirit, passions and inclinations, etc. Neither do we find the familiar images of John of the Cross: the burning log, etc.; nor do we find the technical terms like anagogical act, etc. Nevertheless, Therese spontaneously understood the essence of John of the Cross’ message, simplifying it without watering it down.

It is obvious that the kind of reading Therese did was not at all “academic.” Therese’s readings of John were not systematic, and scrupulously critical thinking did not encumber her respect for the text. She took very few, if any, notes and when she copied a passage she didn’t hesitate to change a punctuation mark or a word. She had great freedom and took whatever liberties she needed.

PUTTING ASIDE THE EXTRAORDINARY: THE VIRTUE OF FAITH:

On 04 November 1984, Pope John Paul II visited the tomb of St. John of the Cross in Segovia, Spain. He reminded the people that he had written his thesis on Faith according to St. John of the Cross, this “Master of Faith,” as the Pope called him. John’s essential teaching on Faith is found in his Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book II, with its 32 Chapters. Other texts can be found in the Dark Night, Book II. An excellent summary on Faith is also found in Stanza 12 of the Spiritual Canticle B. Therese kept almost nothing of John’s theological expression of Faith but she held fast to his book of Maxims, a veritable little treatise on this virtue. Although all this could have been thoroughly assimilated by her, she has particularly integrated it in a vital manner. In her writings, there are a few quotations about the virtue of Faith, but there is a spiritual attitude that shows her habitually living in Faith throughout her life.

This what her sister Sr. Genevieve (Celine) testifies: “Therese lived on bare Faith her entire life. There was no soul less consoled in Prayer. She confided to me that she spent seven years in totally arid prayer; her annual and monthly retreats were torture for her. Nonetheless, people believed she was flooded with spiritual consolations, so unctuous were her words and deeds, so intimately was she untied to God.”

We live in a world that is naturally attracted to the unusual, sensational and dramatic. Even the spiritual life has not been spared of this attraction. Sincere people seek out the extraordinary experiences in Prayer. The weight that is given on dramatic happenings is well known.

Therese lived her Gethsemane. In the dark night with Christ who is seated at table with the tax collectors and prostitutes---to the great scandal of the Pharisees and scribes---Therese accepted this darkness so that the “ungodly” might have light. This is Therese’s com-passion. In this she feels close to Mary standing at the foot of her Son’s Cross. In May 1897, Therese would mention Mary’s “trial of Faith” in her poem: a poem about suffering while loving.

Her acts of faith takes on many forms: a prayer written on a piece of paper, the Creed written in her blood carried next to her heart, a carving on her cell door: “Jesus, my only Love.” She composed many little poems and people around her thought them filled with consolation. But she “sings simply what she wants to believe” without feeling “any joy” in it. (Ms. C)

Yes, she is truly a daughter of the one for whom Faith is habitually “night”, dark and changeless. She obstinately willed to remain in Faith, she didn’t desire “to see”. Vision is reserved for the life beyond this life. During her last illness, her trial of faith reached its peak. People told her: “What a terrible sickness and how much you’re suffering!” Therese replied: “Yes. What a Grace it is to have Faith! If I had not had any Faith, I would have committed suicide without an instant’s hesitation.”

Father Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus had this to say: “St. Therese of the Child Jesus embodies the holiness of our times, a holiness that one may say appears much more by the negative, by impoverishment than by the positive; by an absence of experience rather than by the experience itself. It is pure St. John of the Cross: nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. But God’s Abundance isn’t less apparent and isn’t less felt than poverty.

“Contemplation isn’t extraordinary Graces, nor ecstasies, nor experiences of God, but the ability to look itself.” Therese regarded everything with Faith throughout her life. “On the little way of St. Therese of Lisieux,” wrote Jacques Maritain, “the soul is totally stripped bare, and its Prayer is stripped bare--- so arid sometimes that it seems to flee into distractions and emptiness. It is a way that demands courage. To abandon yourself to Him whom you love means to take on everything, to go through all the stages that Jesus wants you to go through---it’s up to Him to know---and to be led wherever Jesus wants, in light or in darkness.”

HEROISM OF LITTLENESS: THE VIRTUE OF HOPE IN A WORRIED WORLD:

Father Bernard Bro, O.P. could say that Therese “democratized the dark night.” Her “heroism of littleness” is as absolute as the most radical propositions of John of the Cross. John of the Cross and Therese have been pilgrims of the Absolute, each in their own way but, according to the expression of Jacques Maritain, the French Carmelite “put contemplation on the streets.” For his part, Fr. Marie-Eugene of the Child Jesus, a fervent disciple of Therese, wanted to put contemplation “on the highways and byways.” Maritain goes on: “This is the way of the poor people, it is the “little way” that Therese was given the responsibility to teach us. It is a kind of shortcut---extremely abrupt, to tell the truth---where all the great things written by John of the Cross find themselves divinely simplified and reduced to their very essence without losing any of their importance.”

We live in an age of anxiety. Worry has become a hallmark of daily life. Stress and pressure have taken over many lives. The need to excel, the urge to work harder, the desire to achieve has created more tensions that has ultimately affected relationships and commitments. Despite the onslaught of Information Technology, humanity has still come to terms with so many things within and without.

In what concerns the third theological virtue ---the green tunic---according to John of the Cross (DN2, 21.3), Therese retained some fundamental principles of her spiritual Father. Hope is closely linked to desire, she found some sayings that she will often return to and which will one day lead her to discover the heroism of littleness – the way of spiritual childhood and confidence. Two significant counsels of John were specially dear to her: “The more God wants to give us, the more He increases our desires, even making the soul empty so that He can refill it with His goods.” (#45) “God is pleased with the hope of a soul that is unceasingly turned towards Him without every lowering her eyes to another object, that in truth it can be said of her: She obtains as much as she hopes for.” (#46)

When asked to explain the words “to remain as a little child before God,” Therese said:

It is to recognize our nothingness, to look for everything from God as a little child looks for everything from his father; it is to be disquieted about nothing, and not to be set on gaining our fortune…To be little, moreover, is not to attribute ourselves the virtues we practice, nor to believe ourselves capable of practicing virtue at all. It is rather to recognize the fact that God puts treasures of virtue into the hands of His little children to make use of them in time of need, but they remain always the treasures of the good God.

Such is the child: a being essentially poor and trustful, convinced that its poverty is its most treasured treasure. These statements would have delighted John, justifying as they do magnificently his teaching. Poverty can be so humbly peaceful and so simply happy only because the gaze of faith that it spiritualizes, the movement of hope it sets free, have attained God. There is no doubt, the heroism of littleness leads to the highest summits of contemplation and transforming union. By it one makes the journey in peace and joy.

Therese explains how this heroism of littleness is practiced:

You make me think of a little child that is learning to stand but does not yet know how to walk. In his desire to reach the top of the stairs to find his mother, he lifts his little foot to climb the first step. It is all in vain, and at each renewed effort he falls. Well, be like that little child. Always keep lifting your foot to climb the ladder of holiness, and do not imagine that you can mount even the first step. All God asks of you is good will. From the top of the ladder He looks lovingly upon you, and soon, touched by your fruitless efforts. He will Himself come down, and, taking you in His Arms, will carry you to His Kingdom never again to leave Him.

Her comparison illustrates an important truth: the person moves around two poles: a conviction of one’s littleness and its weakness in the face of the goal to be reached; and at the same time the energetic effort to merit God’s intervention.

One must do all in one’s power, give without counting, constantly renounce oneself, in a word prove one’s love by all the works in one’s power. But it truth, since that is very little, it is urgent to put one’s confidence in Him who alone sanctifies the works, and to confess oneself to be a useless servant.

It is helpful to remember Cardinal Danielou’s strong definition: “Spiritual Childhood is the infinity of desire within total powerlessness.” These notions of “audacious confidence”, “reckless audacity”, “blind offering of self”, “without any limits” blend in with poverty to lead to this specific attitude of Therese, this way that owes so much to the theological virtue of Hope so dear to John of the Cross.

At the heart of the Little Way is Hope. Perhaps this is the most characteristic theological virtue of the young Carmelite: “What offends Jesus, and what wounds His Heart is the lack of confidence…”(LT 92) “O Jesus, allow me in my boundless gratitude to say to You that Your Love reaches unto folly. In the presence of this folly, how can You not desire that my heart leap toward You? How can my confidence, then, have any limits?”(Ms. B)

She also remarked: “They say I have virtue but that isn’t true; they are mistaken. I do not have virtue. God gives me what I need at each instant. I have only what I need for the present moment.” The littleness and poverty which attracted God was of course joined to effort, no matter how weak.

To the folly of Jesus who loves us unto death, even death on the Cross (Phil. 2:8), responds the folly of Therese who crosses the threshold of Hope to rejoin her God beyond illness, beyond the night of Faith: “my folly is to hope…

CHOOSING THE BETTER PART: THE VIRTUE OF LOVE:

At Prayer, Therese knew aridity: “Jesus said nothing to me,” she wrote. Then it was that she discovered John of the Cross. At the age of sixteen or seventeen she lived on John of the Cross, on his Ascent of Mount Carmel and the Spiritual Canticle. Her readings corroborated the intuitions of her soul, her intuitions about the infinite Love of God. Through these works, John provided Therese with counsels about growth in charity, in love. In her breviary she kept a picture on which she had copied out a text of his pointing out that an affection good when it is oriented to God. She memorized pages of the Saint, read sections of the Living Flame of Love and the Spiritual Canticle; all of which were providential for her soul. John’s descriptions of love in these treatises correspond clearly to Therese’s experience: God is Love, Goodness pouring itself out. She often quoted by heart passages from John as she often did at recreation---for this was her life! Later she would write: “How many lights have I not drawn from the works of our holy Father, St. John of the Cross!” Therese would also write: “with Love not only did I advance, I actually flew.” (Ms.A) The contribution of John on Therese was decisive and explicit.

The God Therese discovered was the God of Love. So many knew the God of Justice, quid pro quo, and they tried to acquire merits. They kept accounts with God. People kept score with God. When you stood before the Father who was to judge you, he would look at your list of merits. You have obtained so many indulgences, you would have so many merits, and your place would be assigned.

Therese read the Gospels. She found Mary Magdalene. God had forgiven her much because she loved much. Therese found the prodigal son and the father’s great joy in receiving him back: joy, for this was his opportunity to give Himself. This was Therese’s discovery: what gives God joy is the power to give more than what is required by strict justice, freely, based on our needs and the exigencies of His nature which is Love, and not on our merits.

Therese would write: “I shall take care not to present any merits of mine, but only those of our Lord. As for me, I shall have nothing, I do not want to present anything, I prefer to let God love me as much as He wants. It is for this that I shall get such a good reception.”

Therese writes: “God has so much Love to give, and He can’t do it; people present only their own merits, and these are paltry.” She therefore presented herself before God, saying: “Give me this love; I accept to be a victim of Love, that is, to receive all the Love which others do not receive because they will not let you Love them as You wish.” This was her Oblation to Merciful Love. But it was not directly in order to receive Love, it was to “please God.” It was made so that God might have the opportunity to give Himself as intensely as He desired. She would be a victim of Love, she accepted to be consumed by Love, if only God could have His Way. Her object was to please Him, not to be a saint. It was not even directly to give Him to others, but only to please Him.

Since God is a Merciful Father---let us not hesitate to use the word—he needs to love us, delights in loving us. She said, “I know God. He is a father, a mother, who in order to be happy must have his child upon his knee, resting on his heart.” Hers is a love that gives because she has received.

Therese is in perfect agreement with John of the Cross for on the way to God two lights would constantly play: the Light of God’s Love; and the light of one’s own poverty and emptiness, which for her was our aptitude to receive Love.

The teaching of Therese was based on this central experience. The greatest Grace of her life was her understanding of God’s Merciful Love. The theology she elaborated flowed from a personal insight, something which came naturally to her. At times she experienced so much suffering that she said, “When I am in Heaven, if I have been mistaken about this, I will come and let you know.” But in her surroundings of the 19 th Century, she was unique. She read and perfectly understood John of the Cross. To be practical, we should exploit this theological knowledge of God, of Mercy. Therese has left her mark. She has popularized contemplation and sanctity itself.

CONCLUSION:

In the bestseller, Powerful Prayers, CNN television host Larry King describes his conversation with Rabbi Irwin Katsof:

Rabbi Katsof and I hadn’t talked in a while, so I called to update him.

“Well, Irwin, artists certainly aren’t experts, but they do speak from the heart.”

“Right. Connection to God starts with the mind. You use your intelligence to understand God, but then you must make it real, you must move it into your heart. But there’s another step. The next step is to express it in your actions throughout the day.”

“Rabbi, this is getting too complicated.”

“Well, life is complicated. Life is heavy.”

“It shouldn’t be so difficult.”

“Live television is difficult, but you do it everyday with no rehearsal—one chance.”

“But that’s television, Irwin. I just do it.”

“You said it. Not me.”

At each turning point in history, the Holy Spirit places a guide who helps us make the connections. To each rising generation, He gives a Master to speak from the heart. Thus the Church was given St. Augustine, St. Benedict, St. Francis and St. Dominic, St. Teresa of Jesus, St. Ignatius and others. At the beginning of this new millennium, greater and more powerful than preceeding ones because it embraces and conquers the universe but also more tormented, heavy and complicated, God has placed the artist Therese of the Child Jesus, 33 rd Doctor of the Church and daughter of John of the Cross, to reveal Love and make Love loved, to organize her “immense legion of little souls” who have experienced Love to express this option in everyday life.