The “Little Way” (of sanctification) revealed both to St. Thérèse of Lisieux and Mother Teresa of Calcutta,  and lived by the Maronite Church in a very intentional way From St. Maron, to Blessed Jacques Haddad. Most of us cannot do great things, but we can all do small things with great love, and so reach heaven by this “little way” of simple trust in God.
   The parallels between St. Thérèse, who never left her Carmelite cloister, St. Rafqa who never left the convent, St. Sharbel who never left the hermitage, and Mother Teresa, who established mission houses in every nation on earth (except China) before dying at age 87, Blessed Jacques Haddad Abouna Yaaqoub el-Kabboushi who established 63 institutions, including schools, monasteries, and hospitals, the parallels are astonishing. All attained invincible strength by remaining as weak as little children, entrusting everything and operating entirely on God’s grace. Similar to the 6 empty jars in Cana and the voice of the Blessed Mother mediatrix of grace. 
   The fact is that we are nothing, really, or next to nothing, similar to the Leper who was healed in today’s Gospel, by the will of our Blessed Lord, and God is everything. “Jesus is my all in all” Mother Teresa would say with a big smile, full trustful peace in the face of certain disaster. 
   We are but a handful of dust, or as Jesus said to St. Catherine of Siena, “I am who is, and you are she who is not.” The joy of these men and women came from knowing that God loves the leper, the hemorrhaging, , the prodigal son, the paralytic, the blind, the little, the poor, the repentant thief, and the children with a particular affection. For a Christian, to be happy is to be little, and on ash Monday and on ash Wednesday the Church describes this holy simplicity as “dust.”
   We want to hear about “dust,” We want the ashes, and we want to hear that we are just a handful of dust, but dust held lovingly in the hands of God.
   Millions, perhaps billions, around the world came to churches on Monday or Wednesday to hear a priest tell them that there is a God, and that we are not He. 
   The eager and devout faces of people lining up shows how we will always feel the need for a Higher Power. We do not have to save the world—that has already been done. 
   We are nothing, but by entrusting ourselves to the God who can make something out of nothing, we become something. All we have, we have been given, for which we are grateful.