Franciscan Media

In our present, fallen condition, the love we as mothers have for our children enables us to see more clearly into the window of our children’s souls, beholding their God-given glory more easily than other people are able to do.

The truth is, most of us fail to truly recognize the beauty in those around us. In a perfect world, untainted by sin and selfishness, we should look at everyone with the loving eyes a godly mother has for her child. 

Mary is our Mother, and she loves us deeply. Because she is a child of God herself and loves us so very much, she wants us to experience that same joy of being a child of God. She understands how important and powerful his love is, and she knows how profoundly God loves each of us individually and uniquely. She will intercede for us, invoking the Holy Spirit to lead us to God the father.

What a wonderful habit it is to make the Sign of the Cross, to bring Christ to our minds and to our hearts as we carry the crosses of life on our shoulders.

With this sign, we participate in the mystery of the Trinity and are reminded that from the Father came the Son, and from them, the Holy Spirit, who gives us the strength and the knowledge to bear witness to the truth.

We can write our own psalms of lament and express our prayers of suffering. In a journal or spoken aloud, our cries of abandonment and loneliness should come out. 

Perhaps the words that reflect the sorrow of our hearts can come only from our own depths, and maybe they can come out only in forms of music or art or dance. These small steps of prayerful beginning are a movement toward trusting that God has not abandoned us.

Sacrifice teaches us the joy of putting others first, while it strengthens us to respond decisively to the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Yielding to God takes guts, like leaping off a high precipice into pitch darkness. It feels risky, but when we can’t clearly see what’s ahead and we choose to entrust ourselves to God’s love, the rewards are fantastic. It’s as if we ventured out into the wilderness with no provisions, to discover mysterious treasures that speak to our hearts like nothing we have ever experienced before. 

The Church has given us the gift of the saints to show that God does great things in people’s lives. The saints, after all, were ordinary people, too. They needed to call on the Lord for help.

By actively praising God and giving thanks, our hearts will find the resting place that we so desire. Saint Teresa of Avila said this:
“Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing away:
God never changes.”

Jesus brings us a message that is startling and new: Each of us is called to be the dwelling place of God. Saint Paul, in his Letter to the Corinthians, says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” These are strong words! Jesus says, “I dwell in you and you in me.” This is radically new. We are, each one of us, the dwelling place of God.