Love One Another: on St. Therese’s Little Way of Charity
Written by Fr. John Pietropaoli, LC and presented by Fr. John Bartunek, LC, SThD
Christ’s great commandment is that we love one another as he has loved us. Inasmuch as we live that out, we are Christians in name and in fact. But we encounter an obstacle: our own weakness and sinfulness.
Luckily, God has given us the saints, friends who can guide us along the narrow path that leads to eternal life. St. Thérèse of Lisieux is such a friend.
St. Thérèse offers us a Little Way of Love which we can follow no matter where we are in our spiritual journey. And in this Retreat Guide, Love One Another, we will explore that Little Way in the following stages:
- In the First Meditation, we will reflect on the background of St. Thérèse’s Little Way and how it fits in with our call to holiness, which means greatness in love.
- In the Second Meditation, we will delve into Christ’s great commandment to love one another as he has loved us.
- In the Conference, we will unite the two meditations by looking at how St. Thérèse lived that great commandment in her own life, and we will draw out some practical conclusions.
As we begin the new school year, may St. Thérèse’s Little Way of Charity encourage you in your Christian journey.
God bless you and keep you!
Fr. John Bartunek, LC, ThD
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Art for this post on St. Thérèse’s Little Way of Charity retreat guide: Retreat Guide Logo courtesy of rcspirituality.com, used with permission.
About Fr. John Bartunek, LC
Fr. John Bartunek, LC, S.Th.D, received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college, he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and baseball coach. He then spent a year as a professional actor in Chicago before entering the religious Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ in 1993. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003 and earned his doctorate in moral theology in 2010. He provided spiritual support on the set of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” while researching the 2005 Catholic best seller, “Inside the Passion”–the only authorized, behind-the-scene explanation of the film. Fr. John has contributed news commentary regarding religious issues on NBC, CNN, Fox, and the BBC. He also served as the English-language press liaison for the Vatican’s 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. His most widely known book is called: “The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer”. His most recent books are “Spring Meditations”, “Seeking First the Kingdom: 30 Meditations on How to Love God with All Your Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength”, and “Answers: Catholic Advice for Your Spiritual Questions”. Fr. John currently splits his time between Michigan (where he continues his writing apostolate and serves as a confessor and spiritual director at the Queen of the Family Retreat Center) and Rome, where he teaches theology at Regina Apostolorum. His online, do-it-yourself retreats are available at RCSpirituality.org, and he answers questions about the spiritual life at SpiritualDirection.com.
