Marriage and the Water Mill

Posted on July 21, 2018 by

Water Mill

Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  So [also] husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

 

As I was walking this morning and praying, talking to God, as I often do, an image kept popping into my mind.  It was the image of a Water Mill.  As you all know a a water mill uses hydropower.  It uses a water wheel to drive a mechanical process to produce the energy which can create milling, rolling or hammering.   This process enables the water mill to produce material goods like flour, lumber, paper, textiles, etc.  In other words, a water mill can service a great number of people with things they need to live.

In the bible we often hear of living water.  So the mill totally made sense to me as something God would show me.  When he pours living water on us, we are the wheel and we accept and receive it, the wheel produces energy, beautiful energy that services a great many people.  So the living water received in us can make us a light in a dark world.  Conversely, if we fight the living water poured over us, it is like something clogs the wheel.  When we try to do things of our own accord without God the wheel can actually become overwhelmed and feel crushed under the weight of the water.  God can be trying to pour into us, but we are blocking it and it feels like a fight instead of a free flow of beauty.  But God was telling me more than that.

He was talking to me about marriage.  The same analogy is true of marriage.  If I, as a wife, pour life, pour living water, into my husband it can make his wheel churn with great energy.  Conversely if he does the same for me, together we can be fierce in our service of each other, our children, and others.  This is because we accept each other’s strengths and weaknesses and we work together instead of against each other.  My husband is a detail man.  I am a big picture woman, when we pour into each other we accomplish a lot.  When we don’t well….let’s just say things don’t go well.

If I as a wife constantly clog my husbands wheel with criticism or resentment and bitterness, his wheel gets stuck, and the water overwhelms.  This is not what God intended.  In our society we see so much pitting of men against women, and so little cooperation.

I posted the verse above because everyone always thinks it’s controversial.  Telling a wife to be subordinate or submit to her husband.  And throughout history we have seen men abuse women and women bear the brunt of this abuse and trauma.  So much so that the bitterness and resentment has bubbled up and we see a man-hating spirit in women today.  Men have been whispered too as well, there’s a woman-hating spirit that spawned the abuse of women.   That man-hating spirit is whispering lies to women, and the woman hating spirit whispers lies to men because the devil wants nothing more than to break down the family.

But if you read that verse, I mean really read it, it is actually a thing of beauty.  Saint Paul is saying to be subordinate to one another, that means work together.  But he does go on to say that wives should be subordinate to their husbands.  Other translations use the word submit.  So I asked myself, what am I subordinate to?  What is he asking me to submit to by saying submit to my husband?  And the answer lies in what follows.  The husband is to be like Christ.  To love his wife like Christ loves the church.  How did Christ love the church?  He died for her.  Yes, Amen, I will submit to that.  I will be under that mission.  My husband is to love me like this;

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 

My husbands love should sanctify me, help me get to heaven where I am holy and without blemish.  This command was given to the man. Yes! Please!  Absolutely I will be subordinate to that.  And the best way for my husband to be able to do this for me is for me to pour living water into his wheel.  And I can’t pour into him if I am bitter and resentful.  Being a light in the darkness actually starts in our own hearts, spreads to our own family, then to community, then to the nation.  Do you see why the Domestic Church is so important?  If I accept my husbands attention to detail as part of who he is, and help him flourish it, combine that with his pouring into me, accepting that I am a big picture person the way God made me, our wheels can turn with living water together instead of against one another and we become a powerhouse, that lights our own home, and extends to our community.  This is why it is so important for each of us to work on our own interior and examine our own conscience.  We cannot force others to change, but we can let God change us.  We can forgive all debts, especially those committed by our spouse.  This is why the Domestic Church contains Divine Mercy.   Because it is most especially in our marriages that forgiveness is needed.  Forgiveness is the key to permanence.

We must recognize the demons from our past, and from our spouses past that whisper lies to us and don’t allow us to truly live in the light of Christ.  When we believe the lies of the devil we are only able to partially give of ourselves and it isn’t fully what Christ intended.  We become limited by the demons and are unable to receive the gifts God wants to give.  But by forgiving we shut the door on the demons and break down the walls between us and our spouse, and this then extends to others as well.   When people see the light in you, eventually, in God’s time, others will want what you are giving and receiving.  And the world changes one heart at a time.

Lord Jesus, grant that I and my spouse may have a true and understanding love for each other. Grant that we may both be filled with faith and trust. Give us the grace to live with each other in peace and harmony. May we always bear with one another’s weaknesses and grow from each other’s strengths. Help us to forgive one another’s failings and grant us patience, kindness, cheerfulness and the spirit of placing the well-being of one another ahead of self. 

May the love that brought us together grow and mature with each passing year. Bring us both ever closer to You through our love for each other. Let our love grow to perfection. Amen.

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Divorce, Abortion, Divine Mercy and the Womb

Posted on July 20, 2018 by

baby in womb

“The mystery of God’s maternal love is expressed with particular power in the Hebrew word, rahamim.  Etymologically, this word means “womb” but was later used to mean divine compassion for man, God’s mercy.” – Jesus of Nazareth: Part I Pope Benedict XVI

As I sat with my pregnant friend Ashley who is nearing her due date for her baby son, I pondered the baby in utero.  Remembering my own pregnancies, listening to the heartbeat of my children on the sonogram, in which I could also sometimes hear my own heartbeat.  It occurred to me that when the baby’s heart first starts beating, the heart rate is similar to that of the mother. And Jesus showed me my heart beating in unison with his.

Then another image came to me.  The baby in the womb is immersed in blood and water provided by the mother’s body.  And I remembered the words of Pope Benedict above, and how the word womb came to be known as God’s mercy.

The family, the domestic church, is all about God’s Divine mercy.  When a baby enters the world, covered in the blood and water of his mother, and created with the DNA of both his mother and father, he enters with God’s intention of sending him into the loving arms of that mother and father.  A communion that started at conception and was meant to continue all the days of our lives. But Satan brought death and disorder to this union.

Eve was formed from the side of Adam, so from the beginning woman was formed from man.  She was created with the cooperation of Adam and God and given as a gift, body and soul. As with any gift from God, when recognized fully as such, one is moved by immense gratitude, which draws love for the giver.  God the Father, out of love for Adam, gives the gift of Eve. This gift is created out of charity and is the fruit of that love. It is through Adam’s recognition of the gift that he is able to express his love and gratitude to God.

Then God gave the man and woman a role to play in His creative work by giving them the gift of creating new life, from which only God had done on his own previously. This gift is an intimate cooperation with God… man, woman, and God are all needed to create and breathe new life into a child.  This gift was recognized by Adam and Eve and allowed them to express their love and gratitude to God. Thus with each creative and unitive act, man, woman and God are all present.

But listening to the lies of Satan we have distorted, and destroyed what God gave as beautiful.  It started when the gift of this intimate union between man, woman and God ceased to be recognized as gift from the divine giver.  It started at the fall, when they blamed each other.  In our modern culture the sexual revolution coerced men and women to ungratefully take God’s gift and claim it as their own “right”.  Without recognition of the gift or the divine giver, men and women were then unable to express their love to God through this gift. They were unable to be grateful to the giver for this divine union that He has not only given them, but through which he promised to be present within.  

Among other things, this led to the destruction of marriages and the social acceptance of divorce.  Even Moses had laws of divorce, yet look how much more we as a culture have embraced divorce. We have also embraced premarital sex, so a woman may be left alone, not in communion with a spouse when a new life is created within her womb. God does not cease being the giver of new life. He does not cease being fully present in the intimate union between man and woman. No matter if we recognize the gift as such or not, God is the Divine giver.  And His gift is twofold by allowing man and woman a participation in His creative and unitive work, and also through the creation of new life, the new body in the mother’s womb. This is why Christ said; 

He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss [her]?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”        Matthew 19:4-9

The fruit of divorce and pre-marital sex, where a woman is left alone creates a situation where everyone is fending for themselves and not looking out for the other.  It is disunity not unity.  It culminates when a women then, in turn can say today, “this is my body”. But the baby’s body is not her own, for it is distinct and separate from the woman’s body. At the moment of conception the new life begins to grow and develop of its own accord. At first this new life is completely reliant on the mother’s body in order to survive, but over the course of time it develops its own functionality. Then at the time of birth the new life is strong enough to completely separate itself and survive on its own. This reminds me of the parable of the growing seed.

He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.” -Mark 4:26-29

Much like the farmer in this parable who scatters seed upon the earth, when man participates with God and woman in the intimate sexual act, the seed he scatters on fertile ground will yield new life. Jesus further explains through this parable that this seed then sprouts and grows on its own, without the farmer having to do anything.  The farmer does not know how the seed grows, but it almost mysteriously does. The gift from God to Adam and Eve was for man and woman to be involved in the intimate and unitive act of God’s work of creating new life. Once this new life is created it becomes its own entity that mysteriously sprouts and grows on its own accord.

Today we hear the argument that the child in the mother’s womb IS the mother’s body. She has the “right” to do what she wishes with her body.  But the new life within the mother’s womb, although required her participation to create, at the moment of conception ceases to be her own possession, but instead becomes its own entity, sprouting and growing on its own. With this, we must recognize that not only are our bodies a gift from God, but so too the baby in the mother’s womb is also a gift from God.  The question then becomes do we recognize this gift? Only when we do are will able to then express our love and gratitude to the divine giver. Without the recognition by man and woman of this gift, the mercy of God continues to be rejected.

God sent his only Son in humility taking on the body we were given.  God in the womb of a human being, the Blessed Mother Mary. Jesus, Divine Mercy Himself, was a fetus that was at the mercy of his Mother, his foster father Joseph, and his society.  A mother, not yet married, trusting the Angel Gabriel. A foster-father, who had mercy on his betrothed and listened to the will of God. A society that would have killed her and her baby if the two of them had not cooperated with God and with each other.  And so Divine Mercy was born.

And he proclaimed, “this is my body given up for you,” showing us how to restore communion.  And from that Divine Mercy, blood and water poured out from his side on the cross, and just as Eve had been created from the side of Adam, the church was created from the side of God on the Cross.  The church, the bride of Christ, and the Mystical Body, brought forth to restore communion. Restore communion with God and with one another. Leaving us His very DNA in the Mass, so we can run into the loving arms of the Father.   He came to show us how to sacrifice for one another and have communion again.  This is why we must defend life. If we cannot recognize life and children as a gift and instead look at them as property rights and commodities, our society will continue to deteriorate because we are not grateful for the gift.  Ungratefulness wreaks destruction.  It rejects Divine Mercy.  Pray for marriage and families.  Pray for the unborn.  This post is not meant as a judgment on those who have committed these sins, but rather a call to turn back to your loving Creator and be grateful.  Remember, no matter your past, He can make all things new.  That’s Divine Mercy.

 

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Holy Hatred

Posted on July 17, 2018 by

Giordano_StMichael

Luca Giordano – Saint Michael defeats Satan

“Real love involves real hatred: whoever has lost the power of moral indignation and the urge to drive the Sellers from the Temple has lost a living, fervent love of Truth.” — Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen

A few months back I posted the above quote from Archbishop Fulton Sheen on my Facebook page.  I was immediately barraged for promoting hate.  How could I post something saying real love involved real hatred?  Over the course of the discussion, it became increasingly clear that our culture has white washed Jesus Christ into a nice fellow and misinterpreted much of the Gospels.  Turn the other cheek seems to mean, don’t stand up to evil.  That is not at all what Jesus taught.

The reason people have come to believe this false depiction of Christ is because we as a society no longer believe in the Spiritual World, or in sin.  As C.S. Lewis pointed out in the Screwtape Letters, the greatest accomplishment of the devil was convincing us that he wasn’t real.  But he is real.  And until we recognize that, we won’t know who we’re fighting, or how to fight intelligently.  If we don’t believe the devil is real, or in sin, and everything is relative to our particular situation without absolute truth, then we cannot condemn atrocities that happen around us.  If I have no truth, then murder is acceptable, as it seems to increasingly be in our society.  The greatest fallacy of moral relativism is that it states as absolute truth that there is no truth.  It contradicts itself.

It may be hard for some to believe, but God Himself instituted Holy Hatred.  This hatred is not to be aimed at people, but at Satan.  When Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the garden it was Satan who was the very first cursed and here is what God said;

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel. Genesis 3:15

That word ENMITY, that is a true hatred, an active hatred.  It isn’t passive.  And God himself placed it between us and Satan.  GOD TOLD US TO HATE SATAN.  This is HOLY HATRED.  The fruit of Satan’s work is our sin, so we must also HATE SIN.  Until we understand this, we are not fighting our battles intelligently.

The war we are in is Spiritual.  We must not hate people.  We know from being in covenant with God, that we have exchanged enemies.  God deals with the people and our enemy becomes Satan.  We do not battle Satan the same way we battle people.  How do we battle Satan?  With the sword of the Spirit;

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword.” Matthew 10:34

Those sound like harsh words from Jesus, but what did he mean?  The sword he speaks of isn’t a literal metal sword;

“For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens….

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  Ephesians 6:12 and 6:17

Here we see Saint Paul spell it out for us, it is the Sword of the Spirit because we are fighting Powers and Principalities.  It is worth reflecting on that whole verse from Ephesians.

What does this mean?  How do we stand up to evil?  First and foremost, we PRAY.  But we also can actively combat evil by not budging when it confronts us.  This does not mean we act violent.  On the contrary, because evil often manifests through people, we must be non-violent.  We must let God deal with the people and recognize that they are listening to demons who speak to them.  This enables us to love the person, truly love them, to the point we can forgive them, and to hate the demons who speak to them.  We must TRUST GOD that our prayers in alignment with His will and His truth have efficacy.  What does this look like?

It looks like Mother Teresa, who when she asked for bread for a hungry child and the baker spit in her face, she said, “Thank you for that for me, now what do you have for the child?” She did not attack when violence spit in her face.  She did not run away when sin came at her.  She stood her ground in love.  And the child was fed.

When evil came for Jesus Christ, there were many things he could have done.  He could have gone the way of the world and betrayed the Father, like Judas did.  He could have fought back, like Peter did when he cut off the ear of the soldier.  He could have run away, like all but one Apostle did.  But he didn’t do these things, because He was one with the will of the Father.  When evil came for Jesus Christ, He stood in the way.  He knew who His enemy was, and he had a Holy Hatred directed toward His enemy, and True Love directed toward us whom He is in covenant with.  Evil thought he was destroying Him, but the love in Christ’s heart would bring Victory for us.  He didn’t change the truth of what he said.  He took on death that Satan had brought to the world.  And he died for us on the cross.  And this brought Resurrection, because Jesus was teaching us how to fight intelligently.  We do this by totally Trusting God.  Totally loving people.  And totally hating Satan and sin.  Take back your authority from the devil and hate him, and not the people he is whispering to.  Forgive the people Satan whispers to and put your hatred on Satan.  This is how we defeat our enemy.

“Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” Luke 23:24

They don’t know who is whispering to them because they don’t know Truth, who is Christ Himself.  We must live as a light of Truth with Christ in us.

The picture above of Saint Michael, that isn’t passive dislike.  That is enmity.  He put Satan under his foot because he embraced the Holy Hatred God gave us, and thus shows us how to usher in true love of one another.

Pray, fast, receive the Sacraments Christ left us and stand your ground against evil.  Heaven will be your reward.

We can all pray together for Peace through Strength, which we find in the power of God.

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A talk on Prayer

Posted on July 8, 2018 by

praying-man-hands

This is a talk I gave on Prayer at a local church, Audio only;

 

 

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A Pure and Holy Sanctuary

Posted on July 2, 2018 by

Pregnant Blessed Mother

By: Ashley Blackburn

I was at mass this Sunday and the children’s choir was singing the song, Lord Prepare Me To Be a Sanctuary.  As the priest and Eucharistic ministers were preparing for communion, I bowed my head and prayed. Looking down at my pregnant belly, I began to reflect on this new life within my womb.  My womb has been a sanctuary for this child in order for the new life to develop and grow. With every Eucharist that I received during this pregnancy, the child within my womb has also received Jesus. How much more I yearned to feed this child as many times with the Eucharist in these last few weeks before my due date!

 

And then Jesus flooded me with an even deeper insight, which was so beautiful that I knew I needed to share it.  We often hear of Mary being compared to the tabernacle in that she bore in her womb Jesus, just as the tabernacle does today in every Catholic church across the world. With this, we see Joseph taking on the role of being the protector of that tabernacle (Mary’s womb) and the life within it (Jesus).  Joseph took Mary into his home, protected her from danger of being stoned to death, and traveled with her to Bethlehem. He was there for her in her in what the world would have considered a “crisis” and took on the responsibility of protecting her and the baby within her womb from harm.

 

By looking at the Holy Family in this way, we can also then turn to the human family as a reflection of this same image.  Every pregnant woman is a tabernacle. She is carrying within her womb new life, both a physical life and an eternal life of a soul.  This new life is both given and sustained by God. By carrying this eternal soul within the womb, the mother is in essence carrying another portion of the Body of Christ… a portion outside of her own participation in it.  With this, the father takes on the role of protector of this tabernacle. He is to look to Joseph as a model of what this protective role truly means. I dare to say that this role is one where the father must LISTEN to God, then TRUST in His call, and finally FOLLOW the will of God. Both the mother and father of every child conceived have a responsibility to model the Holy Family.

 

But this image is not only true and reflective for expectant mothers and fathers.  It also is true and reflected through the priest. The priest, as a model of St. Joseph, has also taken on the role of protector of the tabernacle and of Jesus present in it.  At the consecration when the priest participates with the Holy Spirit in turning ordinary bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus, he is reflecting what a man does when conceiving a child with his bride. The woman’s egg is made up of ordinary cells, which can do nothing on their own accord.  But through the union with the sperm of the man, along with the life-giving action of God, a new life and an eternal soul are created. Similarly,  the bread and wine are ordinary and can do nothing of their own accord.  It is through the cooperation of the Priest, ordained and bound to the church that his spoken word brings forth the Holy Spirit, and the bread and wine become a the body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.  After this action, both priest and father are called to take on the role of protector.  Protector of this new life that they have participated in creating.  Protector of the tabernacle or womb in which this life is housed.  One “Father” brings the life giving bread for all of us.  One Father participates in bringing forth a new member of the Mystical Body of Christ. 

 

And so with this, what voice do our fathers and priests have in the world today?  Many priests are being asked to be more “tolerant” and give communion to non-catholic spouses who have no inclination to become one with the church or those who are knowingly living in grave sin with no indication of repentance, and without calling them to conversion.  Likewise, fathers have been for years asked to be more “tolerant” by giving up their role as father and protector of the new life within the mother’s womb.  Men are often a forgotten victim of the impact of abortion and feel they are not allowed to speak about it.  While our culture tells us it’s the woman’s body, the reality is that the woman did not create the new life within her womb alone. Both the father of the child AND God were involved in this creative act.  Similarly, the bread and wine cannot create the Eucharist alone, Jesus becomes present through the cooperation of the priest AND the Holy Spirit.

 

In light of this reflection, it is our men, our fathers, and our priests whom God is calling upon at this time.  God is calling you to RISE UP. God is calling you to take on your role as protectors of the tabernacle. He is calling you to imitate St. Joseph by LISTENING, TRUSTING, and FOLLOWING His will.  Be not afraid… Take Courage… By stepping into this role, you are not being “intolerant”, but instead you are bravely and boldly accepting your God given responsibility as protector.

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Mondays are for Priests

Posted on June 26, 2018 by

Corpus Christi Father Dan

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  1 Peter 2:9

Today in Adoration I felt the Lord calling me to pray for Priests even more.  He impressed upon me how they preach to us, especially on Sundays at Mass, and that on Mondays we, the laity, should be doing things for them.  This is the prayer that came out of the time I had in Adoration with the Lord;

Lord Jesus I offer up the sufferings of my day in order for you to form more Holy Priests.  Grant them an outpouring of the Holy Spirit each and every Monday to renew their strength.  
For those who have hearts of stone, soften them and proclaim the truth of your love.
For those whose hearts are already aflame for you give them perseverance to give great Witness and to perform miracles in your name.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Immaculate Heart of Mary, draw these Priests in Union with your hearts.  Protect them and guide them so they will fulfill the Holy Will of God the Father.
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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The Command of True Love and Innocence

Posted on June 15, 2018 by

Madonna on Crescent moon

The LORD God gave the man this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die.  Genesis 2:17

I have spent a lot of time reflecting over the past year on the Fall of Man and the chaos it brought into God’s ordered world.

As written about before, there were four commands God gave in the garden;

  1. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.  Genesis 1:28
  2. Have dominion over the earth. Genesis 1:28
  3. Don’t eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17 (Eve received this command through Adam)
  4. Cleave to one another. Genesis 2:24

In looking at the 4 command’s it seems only one of them is a “don’t,” a negative command.  The other three are positive and Adam and Eve are receiving great gifts from them.  They receive Dominion or Authority over the earth, they receive each other, and they receive children.  The only command where they seemingly didn’t receive something is the one where they were told don’t eat from the tree.  What was death?  They knew nothing of it.  Little did they know that if they eat from this tree, the death God spoke of, what they would receive, was evil.

Why?  Why did God give this command in the first place?  This is the command where we see God trying to teach us what True Love is.  This command required their total free will’s consent, and required what would be considered a sacrifice for a reason unknown to them.  They could not foresee what would come from obeying or not obeying this command in a way that they could see the fruit of the other commands.  By God allowing them to choose, He was teaching them true love.  Because love isn’t really love if it isn’t made with total consent of the will.

And they chose to sin.  They did not make the small sacrifice for love of God, the bearer of true love.  They ushered the evil they could not foresee into the world by disobeying.  But God did not leave us bereft.  He sent us His Son to restore all of the things God had given us, most especially to show us the restoration of true love, by giving us the ultimate sacrifice.

And I started to wonder, why did God send Christ as a child?  He could have just sent Christ the way he sent Adam, as an adult, and formed Him any way He wanted.  Why send a babe?  And it was as if in that moment God whispered to me, “because I wanted to restore innocence and I wanted your cooperation.  Free will’s cooperation with true love.”

And then the Lord showed me just some of the verses that speak of children;

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate. Psalm 127:3-5

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3

If anyone causes one of these little ones–those who believe in me–to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  Matthew 18:6

God sent His own son as an innocent child.  God shows us here what a gift children are by sending his only son as a vulnerable child.  And in this case, this innocent child who grows to a man that sacrifices his life brings the Salvific Grace to save His own earthly parents, one even before she was conceived.  And from the free cooperation of her will and the pure womb of Mary our Salvation came.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote;

“The mystery of God’s maternal love is expressed with particular power in the Hebrew word, rahamim.  Etymologically, this word means “womb” but was later used to mean divine compassion for man, God’s mercy.” – Jesus of Nazareth: Part I Pope Benedict XVI

The womb is mercy.  Mary’s womb brought forth the Innocent Child Jesus, who is MERCY. Could it be that children teach us true love and mercy?  What a shame that as a culture we have made it legal to murder what the true love of God brings forth.  It is we who corrupt and even murder our children, when all God wants to call us to is purity and true love.

And in this reflection on the Innocent Child Jesus we can also reflect on the Eucharist. The child Jesus reminds us of the Eucharist.  The humility of God becoming man in the Incarnation and the vulnerability of the child Jesus.  He had to rely on his earthly parents to protect Him in this world.  The same is true for the Eucharist.  The humility of God to present himself to us in the form of bread and wine.  He places Himself in the protection of the Priest, and in our hands as well as granted through the authority of the church.  This always makes Him vulnerable.   What a responsibility we have, particularly the Priests, to protect Him, to not abuse Him.  Do we know who it is we are receiving?

God continues to be vulnerable to us by promising to be truly present in the Eucharist until the end of time, even though he knows abuses will happen.  When we present ourselves to God at Mass, we must rid ourselves of all pride, humbly standing before Him, open and ready to receive this great gift. This exchange deserves our utmost respect and gratitude as the King of the Universe humbles himself, giving us his flesh and blood, in order to heal and save us from our sins. It is when we humbly bow before him and receive him with a pure and contrite heart, like a child, that we are blessed beyond measure.

So we must become humble like little children, innocent and pure, and through our Savior in the Eucharist we are to become living sanctuaries of God bringing his light into the darkness of this world.  Though we cannot see God except in the accidents of bread and wine, we can foresee the fruits of His goodness when we receive in humility; we have seen it in the Saints. Conversely, when we receive in a state of grave sin we also have seen the fruits, for it was after he received that Judas had a demon enter him.  But for the contrite heart, the humble heart that seeks purity and seeks love, God in his omniscience places Himself in our hands ensuring that His heavenly hand has a presence in this world; guiding and protecting where we are lacking in a way that is unseen by the human eye. We must remember there is great hope and trust in the Lord.

 

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