A Coaching Session on Thérèse of Lisieux

Turning to the Mystics with James Finley

Center for Action and Contemplation

Spirituality, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2026

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this special episode, Jim and Kirsten review the season and offer a way for us to turn to Thérèse of Lisieux for guidance on our own spiritual path. Resources: The transcript for this episode can be found here. The books we will be using this season are: Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Third Edition, translated by John Clarke, which can be found ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠. St. Thérèse of Lisieux: Essential Writings (Modern Spiritual Masters Series), edited by Mary Frolich⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with us: Have a question you'd like Jim or Kirsten to answer about this season Email us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠podcasts@cac.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Send us a voicemail: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠cac.org/voicemail⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ We'll be accepting questions for our Listener Questions episode until May 15, 2026. This podcast is made possible, thanks to the generosity of our donors. If you would love to support the ongoing work of the Center for Action and Contemplation and the continued work of our podcasts, you can donate at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://cac.org/support-cac/ ⁠Thank you!

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to a podcast by the Center for Action and Contemplation.
0:04.0	To learn more, visit cac.org.
0:08.2	Greetings. I'm Jim Finley.
0:11.2	And I'm Kirsten Oates.
0:13.2	Welcome to Turning to the Mystics.
0:29.2	Welcome, everyone, to season 13 of turning to the mystics, where we've been turning to St. Therese of Lesou and her story of a soul.
0:33.7	And I'm here with Jim for our coaching session.
0:36.2	Welcome, Jim.
0:37.1	So in love with her and the beauty of her teaching, so I'm here with Jim for our coaching session. Welcome, Jim. So in love with her and the beauty of
0:39.7	her teaching, so I'm looking forward to this, to share this with the listeners. Yes, and these
0:46.1	coaching sessions are a regular part of our podcast, and it's where I come to you, you're my
0:52.7	spiritual director, and I'm coming to you with questions about
0:56.0	how I might apply things from the mystic to my own life. So we're going to have a dialogue about
1:01.6	that today. And so just to open, Jim, I'd love to hear from you just kind of a high level framing
1:09.6	of what Terese is sharing with us in her story of a soul.
1:14.4	What she's sharing with us in the story of her soul is the sincere intimacy of the interiority of her own heart.
1:22.5	And the interiority of her own heart is a very deep sense that the infinite love of God incarnate in Jesus
1:29.3	is one with her in her limitations, not waiting for her to get beyond them,
1:36.1	but God this infinite love is one with her in the limitations.
1:40.1	And she has such a kind of a consistency of living in the light of that in a way that doesn't depend on whether she's able to feel it or not.
1:49.2	And therefore, it invites us to know that God's one with us infinitely in love with us as the beloved in the very midst of our limitations, whether we feel it or not.
1:59.8	And I think that's what's so consoling about her and reassuring for all of us.
	...

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