The Little Way's Fruit

“I give you praise, 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 . . . . Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.” // Luke 10:21, 23

After queuing through the congestion of airport security, I walked down the terminal to my airline gate. I was traveling by myself, and they were beginning to board the plane. Most people were listening to their headphones with their eyes glued to electronic devices.

As I found my seat on the airplane, it seemed to be a flight full of business commuters. Another day, another flight for so many of them. A sweet family took their seats in the row behind me, and I could hear the chatter of a young, inquisitive child. This must have been his first flight. As a loyal member of #TeamWindowSeat, it was charming to overhear some observations of the curious child in the window seat directly behind me.

The airplane taxied to the runway, and the child became excited with anticipation. As we accelerated for takeoff, this child began laughing with absolute delight. He enthusiastically started shouting out, “We are flying! We are in the air! We are higher than the clouds! This is amazing!” The purity of his joy in this magical moment was contagious. Passengers looked up from their work, glanced at each other with smiles, and giggles erupted throughout the aircraft. This little passenger helped us see with his eyes of wonder.

In today’s Gospel, we learn that Our Father has hidden things from the wise and the learned and revealed them to the childlike (Luke 10:21). May God give us childlike hearts that are able to see our world with wonder and joy. Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, whose memorial we celebrate today, had a pure, childlike heart oriented towards God.

Let us ask her to guide us along her Little Way as we pray with these lines of her May 31, 1897 poem, Abandonment Is the Sweet Fruit of Love:

No, nothing worries me.
Nothing can trouble me.
My soul knows how to fly
Higher than the lark.

Above the clouds
The sky is always blue.
One touches the shores
Where God reigns.

I await in peace the glory
Of that Heavenly abode,
For I find in the Ciborium
The sweet Fruit of Love!

Give us childlike hearts. // Rose ColemanClick to tweet

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