Catholic · Emmaus course
Your Wound Is Not Your Obstacle: St. Thérèse on Grace, Holiness, and the Little Way
You don't have to be healed to be holy.
Many of us carry the quiet assumption that we need to heal — emotionally, psychologically, spiritually — before we can truly give, truly pray, truly grow. Thérèse of Lisieux never believed this. Fr. Marc Foley, OCD, shows us why she was right, and what her insight means for how we accompany ourselves and others.
NBCC CE · 1 clock hour · Human Growth and Development (HGD)
With Marc Foley, O.C.D.
- Length
- 1 hr
- Lessons
- 1
- Level
- Intermediate
- Version
- Catholic
- Price
- Free
About this course
Fr. Marc Foley, OCD, guides us through a careful reading of St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s spiritual development, tracing how her childhood wound — the early loss of her mother and the deep attachments it formed — became, under grace, not an obstacle to holiness but the very site where she encountered God most directly. Drawing on Carmelite mystical theology, developmental psychology, and Thérèse’s own writings, Foley shows that spiritual growth does not require us to “get over” our wounds. Holiness is loving God and neighbor with the actual strength available to us — and that is enough.
Who this course is for
Licensed Mental Health Professionals (Primary CE Market)
LPCs, LCSWs, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, pastoral counselors — many Catholic or faith-oriented — seeking NBCC-approved CE hours.
1.0 NBCC CE clock hour. Content Area: Human Growth and Development. A Carmelite priest trained in psychology and spirituality shows you how St. Thérèse navigated the territory where psychology and holiness meet.
Spiritual Directors and Formation Professionals
Certified spiritual directors, seminary formation faculty, religious superiors, retreat directors.
What do you do with a directee who is genuinely holy and genuinely wounded, and who keeps waiting to be healed before they believe they can give more? Fr. Foley has spent a career thinking about exactly this.
Catholic Adults in Formation
Parish adults in RCIA, adult faith formation programs, online Catholic communities, readers of Catholic magazines and podcasts.
You've been told you need to heal before you can give. Thérèse never believed that — and she became a Doctor of the Church.
Graduate Students in Counseling, Theology, and Spiritual Direction
Students at DMU and peer institutions in clinical mental health counseling, marriage and family therapy, spiritual direction, and pastoral theology.
Curriculum
-
Module 1
Your Wound Is Not Your Obstacle St. Thérèse on Grace, Holiness, and the Little Way
- 1.Woundedness, Grace, and the Little Way: St. Thérèse’s Path to Mature Holiness
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