The last few early mornings I've
been woken up by the Little One crawling into bed needing to be held. “HUG ME!”
she says. I usually have to roll over to
face her, and I sleepily put my arm around her. She much prefers the two armed
hold, but will accept my attempt, especially if it’s still dark outside. If I’m too asleep to respond, she has no
trouble waking up my husband with the same demand. It has got me thinking…how
much do I need to be held by Blessed
Mother?
The spirituality of Communion of
Life with Christ through Mary emphasizes childlike trust and humility. I have
come to believe that one of my Little One’s roles is to teach me the proper
disposition to have in front of my Mother and ultimately, my Father in Heaven.
So my reflection and prayer today
is what
does MOM (Blessed Mother) want to share with me through the Little One’s desire
for being held?
It is in the mornings, when the
Little One finds herself alone and in the dark, that she seeks out my arms or my husband’s, but not only then. She asks to go to sleep in our arms too. During the
day, she comes to us regularly asking to be held. If the walk is too long, she
starts stretching her arms high, whining “hold me!” When she gets a boo-boo, she runs to share the
news with us…hoping for kisses and hugs. When she eats, she prefers to sit on
our lap. When she is cold and/or tired, she snuggles into our embrace. I find
she seeks me out when she is bored, and/or when I am distracted – wanting to
make sure I still remember she is there. She runs to us to share her good news,
as well as her bad news. She comes when she doesn’t understand something, and/or
when she finally gets it! She often seeks out our arms at the Holy Mass – when she
is overwhelmed by her lack of patience and/or distractions.
Entrustment to Mary, submission to her,
and being in her arms are your source of life. Outside of these arms everything
appears to be threatening, the world seems hostile, and you encounter the worst
things. And it would be so if Mary did not pick you up, embrace, cuddle, and
hold you within her merciful arms. (S.C. Biela, The Two Pillars, [Ft.Collins,
CO: IAMF, 2006], 77.)
And, what does MOM want to tell me
through the Little One’s desire NOT to be held?
It is always when the Little One
wants to exert independence that she doesn’t seem interested in being held.
When we pick her up to keep her from something is when she flies out of our
arms quickest. She screams when her siblings pick her up and won’t let her down
– when she feels trapped and when it isn’t her will. She stays away from us
when she wants to be in control, or
when she doesn’t trust us.
The words, I am afraid to turn
everything over to God, hurt like a slap in the face because they are as if
you were saying to God, I don’t trust You; I do not know what You are going to
do to me. … Distrust, in a certain way, is worse than sin because
it is the root and the source of sin. If you do not want to trust, if your
enemy is able to engraft distrust in your heart, then consequences will have to
follow – fear, the feeling of being threatened, and the suffering associated
with it. Only through the consequences
of this evil will you see how far you have strayed. … You will continue to
carry the burden of fear until you are converted, until you become like a child
who simply entrusts himself into his loving father’s arms. “A patient should be
treated for as long as it takes until he learns to pray,” wrote L. Szondi. This
does not refer to repeating simple prayers. It refers to an attitude of deep
prayer, the trusting prayer of a child who surrenders himself fully into the
arms of the Father. (Tadeusz Dajczer, The Gift of Faith, 3rd.
ed. [Ft. Collins, CO: IAMF, 2012], 63.)
Childlike trust and humility, what
does it mean for me?
I guess, in simplicity, it means I
need MOM’s arms always:
The arms of Mary,
where we can find security and happiness, are in reality the arms of God Himself,
who completely permeates the one whom the Church calls the Vessel of the Holy
Spirit. (S.C. Biela, God Alone Suffices, 3rd. ed. [Ft.Collins,
CO: IAMF, 2011], 137.)
©2012-2013 CyanoScarlet |
No comments:
Post a Comment