Wednesday, July 18, 2018

“Childlike Trust” by Colleen O’Sullivan

“Childlike Trust” by Colleen O’Sullivan


Thus says the LORD:  Woe to Assyria! my rod in anger, my staff in wrath.  Against an impious nation I send him, and against a people under my wrath, I order him to seize plunder, carry off loot, and tread them down like the mud of the streets.  But this is not what he intends, nor does he have this in mind; Rather, it is in his heart to destroy, to make an end of nations, not a few. (Isaiah 10:5-7)

At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.  Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. (Matthew 11:25-26)

Piety
“Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
Just to take Him at His Word
Just to rest upon His promise,
Just to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”
"Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, Louisa M. R. Stead, c. 1880-1882, sung by Casting Crowns

Study
The trust in a child’s eyes.  Little else so humbles and terrifies me.  Those big blue eyes looking at me with absolute faith that I will not let any harm come to him, with the certainty that I will rescue him from every tight corner into which he scooches, that I will pick him up when he loses his balance, kiss him and make it all better. 
He imitates the faces I make.  He absorbs the names I give to objects.  He tries, with increasing success, to repeat words I have uttered.   When a stranger approaches his stroller, he turns and looks at me to see if this is a friend.

Over nine months of caring for him, I have learned a great deal from my great-nephew about trust and about being the recipient of such utter faith in my power to keep him safe.  Life hasn’t yet given him cause for doubt or reason to become cynical.

And that’s exactly the sort of childlike openness and trust Jesus says we need in order to receive what God offers us.  Jesus says it’s no use for his Father to reveal the truth to those who consider themselves already wise and learned.  They will not listen.  They are already marching to a different drummer.

As we see in today’s first reading, whether it’s God’s people who have gone astray or the Assyrians God hoped to use to correct Israel, once we’ve become wealthy, powerful, or arrogant, we tend to forget that every good thing we have comes from God.  And, according to St. Ignatius of Loyola, the root of all sin is ingratitude.

Action
Pray for the gifts of simple trust and an open heart in response to whatever God seeks to reveal to you. 

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