Message of Therese of Lisieux
Circular letter of the General Superiors of O.Carm. and OCD
on the occasion of the centenary of the death of St. Therese of Lisieux
(Part 4)
2. God, who creates our brotherhood
The evangelical dimension of brotherly love
43. The second aspect of Jesus’ plan for life is to overcome hatred and division, so that we may come to meet in love and in community with all, as God calls us to do. This requirement is closely linked to the revelation of the fatherly and motherly face of God, for God has transformed us in Christ into brothers and sisters. It is the second part of the single commandment of love: to love your neighbor as yourself.
44. In the experience and teaching of Therese of Lisieux, we encounter the conviction that the authenticity of our love for God is manifested in the quality of our love for our neighbors. Like concentric circles, the dimension of brotherly love opens up to wider horizons, and this "expansion" springs from love for God. The first circle includes those closest to us, while the most distant circle encompasses humanity as a whole. Therese's trust and surrender to God the Father-Mother, and her feeling of being loved by Him, are her sources of brotherly love and apostolate – as an expression of love for all with the desire to share the joyful message of salvation with them.
Brotherly love and life in community
45. The evangelical dimension of brotherly love is lived out in concrete circumstances, in which our human existence unfolds: in the family, in religious communities, in Christian congregations, in the church, in various groups of people, in society. We find within them bright and dark sides, both positive and negative aspects. Our sister Therese teaches us to be a living part of this reality and to begin living out evangelical love where God has placed us.
46. At the time of her entrance, the Carmel in Lisieux, according to her sister Marie, was small and poor. It consisted of 26 nuns. The average age in the community was 47 years. Humanly, it was a poor community, spiritually influenced by the rigorism of its time, including fear of God as a judge, instilled by Jansenism. All of this persistently stood in the way of that dynamism of love and balance which St. Therese of Jesus tried to preserve with such a distinctive human and spiritual realism. In this environment – with concrete people, with all that pertained to them, with their qualities and shortcomings – Therese of Lisieux lived out sisterly love and its demands.
47. On many pages of manuscript C, written for the Abbess Mother Marie Gonzague, Therese describes how she began to understand Jesus' commandment to love one's neighbor as He loved us more and more. This led her to endure the limitations of others, not to be scandalized by their faults, to encourage herself by their small acts of virtue, and to judge everything with understanding and kindness. She also describes specific events that tested her practice of love for her neighbor and made it difficult for the community to grow.36 Our sister lived the commandment of love in small efforts, services, and sacrifices of common life with the sisters.
48. The dimension of community, which the vocation to the consecrated life contains and which our rule also points to, has once again been emphasized by the document Vita consecrata – in its second part, which bears the title: Sign of Brotherhood. The Consecrated Life as a Sign of Community in the Church.37 The Easter mystery helps us understand that without self-denial, without the cross, without generous surrender, without openness and forgiveness, it is impossible to live love for our neighbor in the way of Jesus Christ. Therese of Lisieux is for us an encouragement and teacher to experience a new community and brotherhood in Christ amidst difficulties with spiritual realism.
