By: Sr. Mariana Joy
My heart is often deeply moved and in awe at the profound wisdom that comes from the mouth of a child. Their capacity to know God and be in relationship with Him is innate and written into their very being—I have the privilege of witnessing the working of grace in their souls while in the atrium at our daycare center. I love presenting the Good Shepherd to the children in the atrium, because we don’t tell the children that they are the sheep, but allow them to discover this on their own. They receive this presentation with such tangible joy, delight, and peace…so beautiful to behold. One little boy’s response was, “The Good Shepherd hugs his sheep, and sometimes he carries them because they just want to be held.” Do we allow ourselves to be held by Jesus? Sometimes, we just need Him to scoop us up and hold us close! I received a letter recently from a religious Sister whose community takes care of sheep. She wrote, “There’s nothing in it for the Shepherd! His love is completely gratuitous and for the good of the other. Now that I hand-milk sheep, I can tell you that sheep are quite smelly and stupid, but very loveable because they know and accept their stupidity and rely on their shepherd.” On their own, sheep tend to get lost, wander away, and get themselves into danger, but it is striking they only follow the voice of their shepherd, the voice that they trust.
It is easy to look at a child and see that they have no problem asking for help or making their needs known to us. They cannot help but show us their ‘boo-boos.’ Their littleness is their glory because they know they are loved! We can easily lose this as adults, falling into self-sufficiency and self-reliance, especially with the Lord. We struggle to allow Jesus to love us in all of our weakness; this can be an uncomfortable place sometimes. But, He wants to bring us to a place of freedom, where we delight in needing Him. We will never stop needing Him, just as we never outgrow needing a father and a mother. It can be a very subtle and unconscious thing that we strive for—not needing God, and trying to save ourselves rather than relying on His grace. A Priest once shared with me that our weaknesses are the best gift we can give to God because they’re the only thing He hasn’t given to us! St. Francis de Sales called them ‘our dear imperfections.’ When we are able to praise and thank Him for our very weakness, it transforms our perspective. The book, I Believe in Love, says, “Oh, how beautiful it is, how encouraging, that the weaker we are, and the more we feel our weakness, the more this power of Jesus, if we are united to him, is ours.” Let us often return to the places where our utter weakness has met the mercy of God many times…and lean on Jesus all the more, losing all reliance and trust in ourselves. ‘As a child has rest in its mother’s arms, even so is my soul’ (Psalm 131). May we find our comfort and rest in the arms of the Father, held close to His Heart!