Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31
When one finds a worthy wife,
her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband, entrusting his heart to her,
has an unfailing prize.
She brings him good, and not evil,
all the days of her life.
She obtains wool and flax
and works with loving hands.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor,
and extends her arms to the needy.
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting;
the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her a reward for her labors,
and let her works praise her at the city gates.
St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897) was a woman who lived a short life, only 24 years, the last years of which as a cloistered nun. She was not a learned scholar, nor did she write scholarly tomes. And yet the Catholic Church recognizes and honors St. Thérèse as a Doctor of the Church, along side such towering intellects as St. Thomas Aquinas.
Why is that?
Because of a simple but profound observation St. Thérèse made, called the Little Way:
To do all things, no matter how small, with great love.
In so doing, we lift those little things — the acts of service that we do for others — into the heights of Heaven.
That is why St. Thérèse is affectionately known as St. Thérèse of the Little Flower.
Come to think of it, isn’t her Little Way just another way of describing what our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to do — “Love your neighbor as yourself”?
Sadly, in America today, too many not only eschew doing little things with great love for each other, feminists look upon cooking a hot family meal as oppressive, while men increasingly avoid (salaried) work altogether.
See:
- Studies show doing good deeds is good for our health!
- Feminists are insufferable: Let’s Stop Idealizing the Home-Cooked Family Dinner
- White men increasingly don’t work
- 8+ million dropped out of U.S. labor force under Obama
- Pathology of the Fatherless
~Eowyn
