Where there is a Will, There is A Way

One of the things that brings an instant smile to my face is when I see a large Catholic family enter church to attend Mass. A few months ago, one of our larger Catholic families sat right in front of my pew at church. The entire family filled the entire pew as the smallest to oldest child filed in and made themselves quite comfortable. They were followed of course, by the parents. As I observed the children interact with eachother, I noticed the the smallest child who was sitting the very end and also the farthest away from the parents became quite anxious. It was when I paid closer attention to her that I noticed that she was trying to get up and make it over to her father. Her sister sitting right next to her would hold her back and tell her to sit down yet this little girl kept saying to her sister "I want to go sit w/dad". She was oh so relentless in her efforts to push through her sister then make it past the other four sets of knees blocking her way to get to her father. She finally made it her mother and her mother picked her up and sat her on her father's lap. As she sat on her father's lap she grinned and had a face of relief and of joy that can come only in knowing one has defeated all odds and has won the "prize". She was oh so content.

As i prepare myself for this Lenten season, I think of that little girl and how absolutely dedicated she was to getting to her father. Nothing would hold her back from getting her fathers love and attention. I can only pray to have such an innocent resolve to "make it" to Him in complete humility. And just as the little girl's mother lifted her daughter up to sit on her fathers lap, I pray our our Blessed Virgin Mary lift me up to our Father and that I may truly feel the love and mercy that was poured forth for us and be forever thankful for such an unfathomable act of Love given to us.

Lent is truly the time to meditate on our Lord and Savior's Passion. I think of Jesus sweating blood in knowing He would die for us, for our sins, yet He knew we would continually sin against our Father's will for us. What agony, one can never imagine the intense and acute pain Jesus must have felt in knowing this. I pray we all submerge ourselves in God's love and mercy and that we do all we can to get to Him. I pray nothing get in our way and that once there, after climbing to the summit, to Calvary, that we too feel God's love for us and what He did for us and we give Him glory and praise for giving us the ONLY true and real act of LOVE ever given to any one of us. To God be the glory, the power and the honor always and forever.

Pax
Maria