Or Divine Filiation? The second, or adopted sonship, is more appealing to me than "spiritual childhood." While "becoming like children" has scriptural warrant (Matthew 18:3, 19:14), it must be understood in its context, and read in conjunction with what St. Paul teaches (1 Cor 13:11). Child or children is being used equivocally with respect to both instances. We should be humble and trusting and put ourselves in the hands of God the Father, who leads us by the Holy Spirit; but we also need to take responsibility for ourselves as spiritually mature sons of God. "Child" is can be used to refer to the young and to adults but it is usually associated with the former, while "son" can refer to both equally.
Apparently, St. Thérèse herself did not use the French equivalent of "spiritual childhood" or "spiritual infancy" -- from the article by Andrea Tornielli: "Gennari explains that Thérèse’s true doctrine is not 'spiritual infancy' in a minimalist sense: according to her thinking, “Enfant de Dieu”, the Son of God, is the only model, which by divine grace, “deifies” humans by invading them with the love of his Spirit, transforming them into himself, just as Thérèse had explicitly written in a letter to her sister Celine: 'we are called to become divine ourselves.'"
Gianni Gennari, Teresa di Lisieux, il fascino della santità
Teresa maestra di teologia
Intervista a Gianni Gennari sul suo libro "Teresa di Lisieux. Il fascino della santità: i segreti di una dottrina ritrovata" (ed. Lindau)
Zenit
L'Osservatore Romano
Contemplatives in the Midst of the World by Bishop Robert W. Finn
Thoughts for January 16 from Fr Willie Doyle
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