Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Do you have a friend named Joe?

Happy Easter! Christ is risen! Indeed, he is risen!

When someone is our friend, we normally expect that they would help us in our times of need. We, in turn, should find it easy to do favors for them without expecting anything in return. Friends simply do good things for friends. Do you consider Joe to be a friend? If so, do you only expect things from Joe, or do you things for his honor as well?

Today, I want to share a story related by one of the sisters (both biological and Carmelite) of St. Therese of Lisieux that demonstrates this point:
She [Therese] had cast some flowers at a statue of St. Joseph which was in the garden at the end of the chestnut walk, saying in a childish tone of voice:  "Take them!"

I asked: "Why are you throwing flowers at St. Joseph? To obtain a special favor?"

"Ah, no! It's just to please him; I don't want to give in order to receive."
(Taken from: St. Therese of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations, "The Yellow Notebook" June 11)

No comments:

Post a Comment