"Let the children come to Me." (Matthew 19:14)
There's something beautiful about a baby taking his or her first steps. For various reasons, one cannot help but smile when thinking about the momentous occasion. I can remember the first time I saw my cousin take his first steps; I was blown away at his perseverance and patience. It wasn't that he was walking all over the house and had a handle on balance, it was that he was able to keep getting back up no matter how many times he fell.
I went on retreat this past weekend with the teens in LifeTeen at my parish. We were teaching them about St. Therese and the Little Way. We made confession available to them Saturday afternoon and as I was helping to make sure the teens who wanted to go were able to, I began talking with one of them. She was visibly upset and began talking to me about how she didn't like confession because it made her feel horrible afterwards. I began to reassure her that it wasn't God who was making her feel that way. She revealed to me that she hadn't been to confession since 2nd grade and it all made sense. Her confession was a huge deal in Heaven! We continued to talk and she told me how she wanted to be holy, even a saint, but because of everything she has done in her life, she felt as though it was too far out of reach. I began to share stories of saints who had done some pretty sinful things in their lives, but who had embraced humility and mercy! We talked about the lives of St. Augustine and St. Peter and as I gave her a brief overview of their lives I explained to her how there wasn't a radical change in them overnight. The changes were baby steps, and so it has to be in our lives. We finished up our conversation and she thanked me for talking to her and reassured me that she felt a lot better. As I was praying about the conversation later, and the worries I had about saying the right things at the right time, I was struck by something I said. Baby steps. I realized, in that moment, that I needed to listen to my own advice. Sometimes I hold myself to impossible standards and need to realize that if I'm going to become like saints, if I realize my "littleness" and embrace each baby step I take, then no matter how small, each step is a huge deal! I'm walking towards something, towards my God!
I want to challenge us to embrace each step we take towards sanctity, remembering that each step has a greater meaning and purpose in our journey towards God! our lives are not defined by the giant steps we take, but each and every baby step, which prove to be, sometimes, more difficult than the bigger ones.
Written by Alycia
