I want to be a little soul.
St. Therese was the one who first talked about being little souls. The past saints had always been these great big souls who did these great big things and St. Therese said that she was a small soul. If you have heard about St. Therese, you might not agree that she is a little soul. This Doctor of the Church understood more about God's love as a child than most people ever do. This woman who has changed the lives of so many by her book, The Story of a Soul, and has inspired many other Catholic authors, says she is the smallest soul... I do not know about you but I feel a lot smaller than her. I feel like if she is a tiny soul and I am not even in sight but that's not true. I make myself big... but not in a good way. It's good to be a little soul is because most of us are too small to get to heaven by our own merits like these big-soul saints. The idea of being a small soul is that you are a person that trusts in the Lord and is trying their best, but is too small to get to heaven by themselves. He sees their weakness and His heart is so moved that he picks them up and brings them a little closer and closer each time.
Remember I said I was not as small as St. Therese? How can that be? How could I be bigger than this Doctor of the Church who has inspired so many to change their lives? It is because of two things: pride and lack of trust. I, like most, people struggle with pride. My pride causes me to make myself big. The way I make myself the bigger that most affects me is that I try to do everything on my own, even when it comes to faith. I am a small soul who tries to be a big soul and end up being a soul who is too small to get to heaven on my own, but big enough where it's harder for the Lord to take me in His hands and bring me a little closer. I am like the little kid who wants to feed himself and makes a mess. I want to be a small soul, the smallest I can be. I want to be so small that I move the Lords heart and He with love carries me to heaven.
St. Therese is so small because she was so humble and fully trusted in God instead of trying to do everything herself. She knew that if she loved Him, trusted Him and truly tried to be holy that God would see how much she tried and carry her. His heart would be so moved by seeing her weakness and he would help her get to heaven. He knew she made herself small so she could fully depend on Him. The Lord saw this littlest soul and loved her so much that He made her big. And He desires to do this to us to if we only let Him.
