Who Shalst
Be Called Great?
By: Eric Gajewski
From the work, "Fortress of the Soul"
[1]
At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the
greater in the kingdom of heaven? [2] And
Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, [3] And
said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little
children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. [4]
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the
greater in the kingdom of heaven. [5] And he
that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.
~Matthew 18: 1-5
~Matthew 18: 1-5
Let us examine...
Humility makes our lives
acceptable to God, meekness makes us acceptable to men.-St Francis De Sales Christ sets forth the example of who
is the greatest and his reply is the “little child”. It is not the ambitious man seeking gain nor
the man searching for worldly honors and vainglory. It is a simple “little
child”. Christ points out that we must
first be converted in order to become “little children”. In order to convert our hearts to Christ we must
belittle that which we once esteemed so highly. We must “detach” as worldly men
clinging to the latest distractions with the carnal eye and “attach” ourself to
the bosom of our Blessed Lady with our “inner eye”. We must become interior
peoples if we are to have any hopes of leading a life of perfection and become “little
children”. “Little children” sit in our midst every day and we fail to see they
are still the example. In the midst of this
great crisis in the Church we ought behave as these “little children” having
full confidence in our Blessed Queen. We should smile and carry on without
bowing down to despair, worry or doubt. Yea, the “little children” surround us
but why do we fail to see them.
St. Therese helps me understand:
"the splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not take away
the perfume of the little violet or the delightful simplicity of the daisy. If
all flowers wanted to be roses, nature would lose her springtime beauty, and
the fields would no longer be decked out with little wild flowers. And so it is
in the world of souls, Jesus' garden. Perfection consists in doing His will, in
being what He wills us to be." (Story of a Soul) How many of us look to our left and
right to see “what others are doing” in hopes to be or do as they do? Is this being a little child? The answer, of
course, is no and thus we must remind ourselves daily that we are all different
flowers in the New Garden. “Little
children” do not care what color their petals are they only care that they are
in the New Garden itself playing under the Son. They are
content with “being” and not occupied in the “doing”. Why spend all day trying
to replicate the petals of your neighbor when you fail to see you give off a
fine perfume yourself with the aide of Gods grace? You will notice the flowers of the New Garden
grow straight upward and are close to the Great Tree (Mary). Do not look horizontally toward your neighbor
as worldly men do but rather look “straight up” and bask in the Rays of the Son
from above staying close to the Tree of Life.
St. Therese was a little flower who thus represented the “little
children” Jesus spoke of. Be ye converted and hand over your heart/will to
Jesus Christ the King this day and lay down your own inordinate desires.
Furthermore, notice how Christ receives the “little children”. On the contrary what does modern man do to
these “little ones”? Instead of
embracing the “little ones” we kill them, we neglect them, we are often "too busy" for
them. It is sad to see that the greatest
among us our being butchered daily and are often overlooked because we think
ourselves to be wiser. Christ’s Gospel
is simple and thus it is hard for modern man to grasp because modern man is
complex. Thus we must look closely at
these "little ones" to once again grasp the reality of what this life is all
about. And what is this life all about? It is about God alone; it is about our
personal inward journey in this Fortress of the Soul to arrive at His Sacred
Heart in the Spiritual Marriage. It is about to clinging to Our Lady and Jesus and not turning ourselves away because we have to many "possessions". It is
not about “over analyzing” these "little ones" to death. No, it is rather about
being crushed and impoverished enough to become one of these “little ones” our self. Humility is the key by which opens the door
to charity and invites all. 'There is no doubt that
God will never be wanting to us, provided that He finds in us that humility
which makes us worthy of His gifts, the desire of possessing them, and the
promptitude to co-operate industriously with the graces He gives us.'
--St. Ignatius of Loyola
--St. Ignatius of Loyola
In addition, to
butchering the “little children” we scandalize them. We raise them in
accordance with the world’s standards so that they look to the TV and media for
their blueprint rather than Christ and Our Lady. If that was not enough, we
even turn away these “little children” who are looking to us for
direction. In our selfish ways we make
the newspapers, TV, and other worldly novelties more important than our own “little
ones”. Jesus says that whoever receives these
“little ones” receives Him and yet do we do this? Or do we put them in a room to be “swallowed
up” by the latest filth on the computer and TV?
This modern world is neck deep in scandal and thus we must look once
again to these “little ones” to gain a firm grip over the direction our own heart
and souls are heading. Jesus points out
the “little children” and puts them in our midst for only He exalts. Do not be
a member of the crowd but rather humble yourself this day, so that one day, when
Lifes last breath draws upon you, Christ Himself, may come for you and pull you
out of the crowd and say “Well done my little friend…”
The humble man not
only recognizes his sin he keeps like a watchdog over his heart denying pride
at every opportunity. The humble man hates sin and awaits on Him. The humble man is devoted in prayer and lives
life without care for he has no self will. The humble man is found in the
fields of silence and solitude. He does not
try to analyze the varying flowers in the field he is content with being in the
midst thereof. May
thee Immaculate Heart of Our Lady guide, protect and guard your heart everyday
in this exile, Ave Maria – Amen.
Who Shalst Be Called Great?
It is the man without
The man patiently willing to further wait
To stand before His God justly
Lest he succumb to this life’s wormy bait
O’ Who Is the Greatest?
It is the man “shut in” to pray
Whose "eyes" stay focused in on the Saints
Whose "eyes" stay focused in on the Saints
It is he Who is Little in this world so large
Who stays out of pride’s harmful way
Lest the night catch us off guard
That by an eclipse of the heart
Pride might not steal away our interior noonday
So that we might, like St Therese, state, from our lowly place
O’ to behold Thee forevermore! To see thee Beloved’s Face
Let us follow the “little children’s” way
Holding the hand of Mary, God’s own Handmaid
Let us be resolved this and every day
To work in accordance with thy grace
And expiate every deplorable outrage
For we have our own soul to save
Of which, if we do lose it, we only have ourselves to blame
Yea, in the end, we only have hell to avoid and heaven to gain…
For further reflection:
http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/christ2-2.htm
http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/christ2-2.htm
http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/christ4-7.htm
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