In Bishop Conley's homily today, he encouraged us to more fully surrender ourselves to Jesus. In fact, we repeated three times the line from the surrender prayer, "I surrender myself to you. Take care of everything."

This fits well with St. Therese's doctrine of confident trust. In these qualities of surrender, confidence and trust, we find freedom. Instead of pride in what we can accomplish, discouragement when we fail, or trying to control all the details, this path is one of rest.

It does not mean that there will not be trials, but it is knowing that He knows and cares about these struggles, He will be with us and help us get through them. Therese had her fair share of difficulties: losing her mother to cancer at age four, her father's dementia, a sister with mental illness, interpersonal difficulties in community, and the ascetic life of a nun in Carmel. Even the spiritual milieu of the times in which she lived seemed to be against her. In recognizing her littleness and inability to make herself a saint on her own, Therese drew her confidence in the promises of God.

One of my favorite psalms, Psalm 131, echoes the kind of trust we can have in God. "O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor haughty my eyes. I have not gone after things too great, nor marvels beyond me. Truly I have set my soul in silence and peace. As a child has rest in its mother's arms, even so my soul. O Israel, hope in the Lord, both now and forever."

May you also find freedom and rest in the promises of God. He can and will make you a great saint--if you let Him!

Sister Mary Agnes, C.K.