01 Ep #494 St. Thérèse of Lisieux and The Little Way

"Unless you become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt 18:3).
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It's fascinating to me that Jesus begins teaching adults how to deal with offenses and offenders by embracing a little child and making this statement, particularly because we are often taught that He is saying charity demands the wounded be a doormat.
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Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus goes on to teach about healthy boundaries, reconciliation, fraternal correction, toxic and healthy forgiveness, and deliverance, all sandwiched between illustrations involving children. In The Little Way series you will also learn:
- The difference between "childish" and "childlike"
- Why St. Therese of Lisieux's "Little Way" is the "greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" (vs 4)
- What it means to "receive" the child in us, and therefore receive Him (vs 5)
- When reconciliation is impossible and how to go "no-contact" (vv 6-9)
- Who "despises" the little ones (Matt 18:10)
- How to rescue the "little stray lamb" that always runs to the brier thicket in fear (vv 12-14)
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Learning to love the demanding, controlling little you that still screams for attention and protection in your present and future can be challenging, but it *is* possible, and Jesus teaches it is necessary. Sometimes your hurt is too early to recall, only feel, as in womb experiences or pre-verbal, pre-self-aware implicit memory. Can we reach that deeply? St. Thérèse Lisieux shows us a way, The Little Way. We become little again.