Love is all that matters

Count me in among those who want to do great things to change the world. Inside us, we have that aching feeling of wanting to do more and to contribute more, but I ask, “For whose sake?”

This Holy Week, I was inspired by the story of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, who did the smallest things with great love for God. Her only desire was to love God in everything that she did, including cleaning the toilet! She even wanted not to be remembered. She died at an early age of 24, but was later to be known as the Little Flower, who loved God just by being a beautiful flower in a garden. St. Therese wrote in her autobiography: “What matters in life, is not great deeds, but great love.”

Personally, I find this call very challenging. I have a Carmelite nun friend, Sister Teresa, who once told me to offer everything to God — the challenges and sacrifices — all for the love of God; to be like a little child with only her hopes in the Father. Sister Teresa chose a cloistered life in prayer, so different from her life outside the convent when she was JD Constantino, an activist and professor. “All for the love of God.”

A look at the life of St. Therese makes us reflect and give importance to the seemingly minute things that we overlook in our lives. For example, many of us are involved in community service and have contributed much to society, and yet, we also fall short in treating others and our surroundings with respect and dignity, especially those among the poor.

Oftentimes, we equate doing good to giving material things, but sometimes, being heard is enough consolation for a broken soul. A simple smile brightens someone who’s had an exhausting day. A sincere look can be reassuring to someone who has lost faith in himself.

I’m not saying that we give less, but simply love more and make it felt in our daily dealings with people. As St. Therese would say, “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.”

Love is all that matters. And we do because we love God.

Happy Easter, everyone.

(E-mail me at [email protected].)