My Summer with Therese of Lisieux

I have started my next book "Story of a Soul, the autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux" and have come across a goldmine just in the first pages of what Therese is writing and wanted to share them as best I can.

She starts her writing about herself by opening the Gospel and she says: "my eyes fell on these words: "And going up a mountain he called to him men of his own choosing, and they came to him" (St. Mark, 3:13) This is the mystery of my vocation, my whole life, and especially the mystery of the privileges Jesus showered on my soul.  He does not call those who are worthy but those whom He pleases or as St. Paul says: God will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he will show pity to whom he will show pity.  So then there is question not of him who wills nor of him who runs,but of God showing mercy" (Ep. to the Rom.,9:15,16)
She goes on to say: "I wondered for a long time why God has preferences, why all souls don't receive an equal amount of graces. I was surprised when I saw Him shower His extraordinary favors on saints who had offended Him, for instace, St. Paul and St. Augustine, and whom He forced, so to speak, to accept His graces.
Jesus deigned to teach me this mystery. He set before me the book of nature; I understood how all the flowers He has created are beautiful, how the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the Lily do not take away the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy.  I understood that if all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers.
And so it is in the world of souls, Jesus' garden. He willed to create great souls comparable to Lilies and roses, but He has created smaller ones and these must be content to be daisies or violets destined to give joy to God's glances when He looks down at his feet.  Perfection consists in doing His will, in being what He wills us to be."
Wow, how beautiful and articulate.  What a treasure this book it to us who read it.  All of this in only the first pages!  I hope this inspires you to read more about St. Therese and that she touches your life in a postive way.  God bless.