A reflection on Luke 12:4-5
Friday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 Gloria M. Chang
Who truly holds power over your soul—earthly threats or the One who judges for eternity?
I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more. I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Luke 12:4-5
Wisdom of the Little Flower
St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the “Little Flower” and Doctor of the Church, inspired the second line of the couplet: “Little flow’rs fear not the Gehenna of sin.” The Carmelite saint taught that childlike faith in God casts out fear and even devils. God the Father, who overwhelms us with love and mercy, delights in our trustful abandon.
When a garden of paradise blooms within,
Little flow’rs fear not the Gehenna of sin.
Traditional Chinese Translation
《你應該懼怕誰？》
當花兒盛開在一座樂園裡時，
連小花都不怕罪惡的地獄。
Related posts:
We Are Our Neighbors’ Keepers
Let the Children Come to Me
Meditation on Light, Series I, Day 1
Links to the Wisdom of St. Therese of Lisieux
St. Therese Daily Reflections
How St. Therese of Lisieux scared away two little devils
Love casts out fear.
Lord, stay very near.
Thank you for your lovely couplet!
From the Wisdom of St. Teresa of Avila:
Let nothing disturb you;
Let nothing frighten you,
All things pass away.
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
He who has God,
finds he lacks nothing.
God alone suffices.
Dear GMC, thank you for the links to the Wisdom of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. They led me to the poem (which I never knew before!! Thank you!) by St. Thérèse of Lisieux, To Live of Love. So nourishing, like your reflection. Here’s an excerpt:
To live of love, it is to know no fear;
No memory of past faults can I recall;
No imprint of my sins remaineth here;
The fire of Love divine effaces all.
O sacred flames! O furnace of delight!
I sing my safe sweet happiness to prove.
In these mild fires I dwell by day, by night.
I live of love!
Thank you for sharing the treasured poem of St. Therese of Lisieux. Beautiful!
In the garden of God’s love,
My soul is cultivated.
I need not thirst any more,
I am Spirit irrigated.
May the rivers of living water flow…