“Listen to me, my faithful children, and blossom like a rose growing by a stream of water.
      “Send out fragrance like incense, and put forth blossoms like a lily.  Scatter the fragrance, and sing a hymn of praise; bless the Lord for all his works.”  (Sir. 39:13-14, NRSV Catholic Ed.)

I love this passage from the book of Sirach.  God seems to be saying that I can be more than I am in the present moment, more than I can desire or even imagine.  This resonates in my heart, and I believe it is true.  I want to be like the rose or the lily that gives off a lovely fragrance to the world.  I want my life to be a hymn of praise that blesses the Lord who made me and who sustains my life.

At the same time, I am aging.  I see an old woman in the mirror.  I am not as strong as I used to be.  There are more years behind me than before me.  Yet my desire to become something more is as strong and vigorous as if I were a young woman with my whole life ahead of me.

St. Therese of Lisieux wanted to be a saint, and at the same time, she was realistic about her limitations and her situation.  She didn’t think she was made of the stuff of great saints (although it turned she was), but she believed God would not have given her the desire to become a saint unless it was possible for her to achieve that goal.

I can’t compare myself to St. Therese, but I may still have something beautiful to offer to the world.  I may still have some unopened petals, but in order for them to open, I need to remain near the stream of running water.  For me, that stream is the mysterious life that flows from the opened side of the Savior, from the side of the one who gave his life for me so I could have life, so I could be life in myself and for others.

At the end of my life on earth, when my last petal has fallen to the ground, I hope to enter into a greater life, an eternal life with the Lord who has loved me so dearly in this earthly life of preparation.  I look forward to being with him forever in that abundant life – ever fresh, ever radiant, ever blessed.