26 June 2026 The Little Flower

Welcome

Opening Prayer

Thank you for the ordinary.  Let us know in our hearts the value of ordinariness – of being a ‘little flower’  and the love you have for all.   We give thanks for the example of St Therese and the ‘little way’ she followed. We cannot pray without praying for peace. Using Isaiah’s words let us beat swords into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks and let no nation take up the sword against any other nation. We need peace so very much. Thank you dear Lord God. Amen

Reflections

St. Thérèse of Lisieux, known as "The Little Flower" or "Little Flower of Jesus," was a 19th-century French Carmelite nun (1873–1897) recognized for her spiritual "Little Way". She entered a cloistered convent at age 15 and died of tuberculosis at 24. She was canonised on May 17, 1925, and is recognised for her resilience and courage.  St. Thérèse advocated achieving sanctity through small, daily acts of love, humility, and complete confidence in God, rather than grand gestures. She stated, ‘If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.’

Her "Little Way" was a spiritual path focusing on doing ordinary actions with extraordinary love. She viewed herself as a "little flower" in God’s garden, humble and reliant on divine mercy, rather than a grand, notice-seeking rose.

We will now read some quotes from her autobiography, ‘If a little flower could speak, it seems to me that it would tell us quite simply all that God has done for it, without hiding any of its gifts. It would not, under the pretext of humility, say that it was not pretty, or that it had not a sweet scent, that the sun had withered its petals, or the storm bruised its stem, if it knew that such were not the case.’ St. Therese of Lisieux. The Story of a Soul: An Autobiography, Kindle p5

‘Our Lord has deigned to explain this mystery to me. He showed me the book of nature, and I understood that every flower created by Him is beautiful, that the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not lessen the perfume of the violet or the sweet simplicity of the daisy. I understood that if all the lowly flowers wished to be roses, nature would lose its springtide beauty, and the fields would no longer be enamelled with lovely hues. And so it is in the world of souls, Our Lord’s living garden. He has been pleased to create great Saints who may be compared to the lily and the rose, but He has also created lesser ones, who must be content to be daisies or simple violets flowering at His Feet, and whose mission it is to gladden His Divine Eyes when He deigns to look down on them. And the more gladly they do His Will the greater is their perfection.’

St. Therese of Lisieux. The Story of a Soul: An Autobiography, Kindle p3

‘Dear Mother, I am the little brush that Jesus has chosen to paint His likeness in the souls you have confided to my care. Now an artist has several brushes—two at the least: the first, which is more useful, gives the ground tints and rapidly covers the whole canvas; the other, and smaller one, puts in the lesser touches. Mother, you represent the big brush which our Lord holds lovingly in His Hand when He wishes to do some great work in the souls of your children; and I am the little one He deigns to use afterwards, to fill in the minor details.’

St. Therese of Lisieux. The Story of a Soul: An Autobiography, Kindle p143

What a gift to recognise ‘ordinariness.’  Do we perhaps find ourselves striving for success – trying to stand out from others like St Therese’ roses. Hands up here…. I seem to do this and seeking affirmation from others. But I am learning we only need affirmation from God and he loves the violets as much as the roses.

Richard Rohr states

‘I’ve noticed in the Gospels that even after two appearances of the Risen Christ, the apostles return to their old job of fishing (John 21:3). They don’t join the priesthood, try to get a job at the Temple, go on more retreats, take vows, leave their wives, or get special titles. Nor is there any mention of them baptizing each other or wearing special clothing beyond that of a wayfarer or “workman” (Matthew 10:9–10). When the inner is utterly transformed, we don’t need symbolic outer validations, special hats, or flashy insignia. 

We can also note that the Risen Christ is never apparent as a supernatural figure, but is mistaken in one case for a gardener, another time for a fellow traveller on the road, and then for a fisherman offering advice. He seems to look just like everybody else after the Resurrection (John 20:15; Luke 24:13–35; John 21:4–6), even with his wounds on full display! In the Gospels it appears we can all go back to “fishing” after any authentic God encounter …….…… True mysticism just allows us to “fish” from a different side of the boat and with different expectations of what success might mean.

Adapted from Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi (Cincinnati, OH: Franciscan Media, 2014), p16–17

Henri Nouwen is also a person who we can look at. He attained many high positions such as teaching at Yale and Harvard. But he only found peace when living with and aiding disabled people in Canada. He also writes about ordinariness as follows:

‘Jesus..spoke from his heart, acted out of compassion, and left the results to God. The question in ministry is not “How do I bring all these people to Jesus?” or “How do I make these people believe?” or “How do I help all these people?” Ministry happens. You and I do very little…… The ministry of the body of Christ is not really something that you try to do, although it calls you to do many things. Ministry is the fruit of finding your gifts and offering what you have. Ministry is not something that requires professional credentials. It is a vocation each of us claims by virtue of our baptism in the body of Christ.

if you know you are the beloved, and if you make yourself available for service, you cannot do other than minister……. Ministry is the overflow of your love for God and others. Ministry is when two people toast their glasses of wine and something splashes over. Ministry is the extra.

Nouwen,H, Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith, HarperCollins.Kindle p129-131

I would think God finds us where we are and loves us for who we are. The individual gifts he bestows on us perhaps are ‘tailor-made’ – just for us – no gift of greater or lesser value – just different. We see Paul speaking of the Body of Christ - different parts yet all equal. And the Bible is full of ordinary people. The prophets were just normal ordinary people such as farmers given a specific role by God.  Jesus, whilst of course being a very special person, was born to a poor parents and brought up to learn carpentry with Joseph.  During his ministry, Jesus spent time with the ordinary and valued children, encouraging his followers to be innocent and trusting as children so as to enter the Kingdom of God.

Mark 10:13-16 The Little Children and Jesus

13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

The Buddha was born and grew up with wealth and luxury as a Prince. But once aware to the suffering in the world, he gave this all up and became a model of profound humility – he was quiet, egoless and had an unassuming demeanour. He lived simply, served others with compassion and was unaffected by praise or blame. The Buddha rejected the ego driven path and pursued the ‘middle path’ and sought no recognition. He taught that pride was a source of suffering and challenged the ‘I am’ mentality.    In Buddhism, humility is seen as deep wisdom and the understanding of one’s own limitations, and flaws – thus not as a weakness. True humility is not about thinking poorly of oneself, but rather not needing to compare oneself to others.

Finally, we need not seek greatness in this world, we can all be little flowers yet loved no more, or no less by God.

Introduction to Silence

Blessing

Benediction for an Ordinary Day

May the light of your soul guide you.



May the light of your soul bless the work



You do with the secret love and warmth of your heart.



May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.



May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light and renewal to those



Who work with you and to those who see and receive your work.



May your work never weary you.



May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration and excitement.



May you be present in what you do.



May you never become lost in the bland absences.



May the day never burden you.



May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams,



Possibilities and promises.



May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.



May you go into the night blessed, sheltered and protected.



May your soul calm, console and renew you.

John O’Donahue, Anam Cara

More Thoughts:

“Only love can enlarge my heart.” -St. Thérèse of Lisieux

‘…. I used to have among my birds a canary which sang beautifully, and also a little linnet taken from the nest, of which I was very fond. This poor little prisoner, deprived of the teaching it should have received from its parents, and hearing the joyous trills of the canary from morning to night, tried hard to imitate them. A difficult task indeed for a linnet! It was delightful to follow the efforts of the poor little thing; his sweet voice found great difficulty in accommodating itself to the vibrant notes of his master, but he succeeded in time, and, to my great surprise, his song became exactly like the song of the canary.

St. Therese of Lisieux. The Story of a Soul: An Autobiography, Kindle p71-72

Love of God - From Story of a Soul

You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.   Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love…..……I understood that the Church has a heart and that this heart is burning with love; that it is love alone which makes the members work, that if love were to die away apostles would no longer preach the Gospel, martyrs would refuse to shed their blood. I understood that love comprises all vocations, that love is everything, that it embraces all times and all places because it is eternal!

Love alone have I ever given to the good God; with love He will repay me. When one loves, one does not calculate. How sweet is the way of Love! True, one may fall, one may not be always faithful, but Love, knowing how to draw profit from all, very quickly consumes whatsoever may displease Jesus, leaving naught but humble and profound peace in the innermost soul.

Jesus, it seems to me you could not have overwhelmed a soul with more love than you have poured out on mine.  Do not imagine that love can be found without suffering, for we carry with us our human nature; and yet, what a source of merit it is! …………..It is true that Love knows no such word as “impossible,” for it deems “all things possible, all things allowed.”  I love you, Jesus, and bear in mind the words of St. John of the Cross: ‘The least act of pure love is of more value than all the other works put together.’

From Story of a Soul, https://www.littleflower.org/st-therese/st-therese-quotes/

‘Maybe the reason that our knowledge of God is so limited is because we’ve been looking for God in places we consider nice and pretty. Instead, God chooses the ordinary and messy.’

Quote from Richard Rohr newsletter- December 20, 2021

“God comes to us disguised as our life”, Paula D’Arcy – quoted by Richard Rohr https://www.franciscanmedia.org/minute-meditations/god-in-the-ordinary-experiences/

In Luke 8:42–48, we read: As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. . . . Then Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” Jesus did not cure the crowds applying proven ministry techniques. He spoke from his heart, acted out of compassion, and left the results to God. He wanted only one thing—to do the will of his Father.

Nouwen,H, Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for the Long Walk of Faith, HarperCollins.Kindle p129

Matthew 18:2-6

2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.  6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

Buddha Quotes

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.