St. Therese of Lisieux attained the summit of love by plumbing the depths of her own powerlessness. Confronted by this powerlessness in the events of everyday life, she abandoned herself more and more to Jesus Christ, the incarnation of God's mercy. In so doing, she received the Savior's healing, and the awareness of being loved by an infinitely merciful Father. We can all recognize our face in that of Therese. Like her, we are poor, finite and often overcome by fear. She can teach us that by following her way of abandonment we also will experience Love. Then we will be able to cry out, with her, in an excess of joy: "My vocation is Love... In the heart of the Church, my mother, I will be love, and so I will be everything..."