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Turning to the Mystics with James Finley

Coming Soon: Turning to Thérèse of Lisieux

Turning to the Mystics with James Finley

Center for Action and Contemplation

Spirituality, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.81.8K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2026

⏱️ 4 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Season 13 of Turning to the Mystics will continue with our next mystic, St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Our journey begins on March 16th, 2026. Resources: The books Jim will be referencing 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

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.

0:10.0

Coming soon on turning to the mystics, St. Therese of Lesotho.

0:18.0

I think it's helpful to ask ourselves the relevance of Therese and the spirit of where the world is today.

0:26.6

And so what is the relevance of Therese for us?

0:31.6

One thing that comes to me is this.

0:34.6

If I get so caught up in the complexities and challenges and so on of the times,

0:42.1

I realize that I've overlooked something very important. And that is to begin by being

0:49.3

attentive to the intimate immediacy of the mystery of myself, that I woke up this morning, you know?

0:58.0

And the sun's moving across the sky,

1:01.0

and there's people that I love and people who love me,

1:06.0

and that life is a gift,

1:08.0

and that God's infinitely in love with me.

1:11.6

So if I ground myself in that, I ground myself in a depth of presence that transcends the

1:19.6

suffering of the world and permeates it, and that's Jesus.

1:23.6

See, it says in the Gospels, Jesus did not consider his equality with God a condition to be clung to, but emptied himself taking the form of a servant.

1:33.2

Jesus dropped down, down and down and down, to meet us right where we are in the midst of our ordinariness,

1:41.0

and touches us with a sense of pausing to become deeply present to the mystery of our

1:47.4

aliveness and life itself, then out of that aliveness to go out into the day. And I think she can

1:55.0

help us with that. This is why we can sit with Therese, as Lexio-Devina. And at the end of each little quiet time with Therese,

2:03.6

we ask for the grace not to break the threat of that as we go through the day.

2:07.6

And we'll notice it breaks many times because we get reactive, because we're just human.

...

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