Conversely, in one of her letters Therese says that what hurts God most, our most serious failings in this regard, is our lack of trust. “What offends Jesus. What wounds His heart, is lack of trust.” God does not first expect of us that we be absolutely perfect (that will come little by little) but that we give him our trust. This is a remnant left of original sin: man distrusts God, is scared of God, runs away from God instead of trusting him completely.

Therese fully understood how trust draws God’s grace down on our lives. If we have an attitude of trust, we can be certain we are open to God’s love. We also need the good will I spoke of earlier, as well as humility, of course, but trust has a special power. Therese loved this quotation from St John of the Cross: “One obtains from God as much as one hopes for.” “Be it done for you as you have believed,” Jesus says in the Gospel.

–Father Jacques Phillippe “The Way of Trust and Love: A Retreat Guided by St Therese of Lisieux”