I held the one-month old infant in my arms that frigid Minnesota morning. His four older brothers looked on dressed in suits. My husband and I had the honor of standing in as proxy godparents since His real godparents lived far away.
I was given the incredible gift of holding this child as the priest poured the waters of life over him. In an instant, the tiny infant went from living in original sin to having a life of grace and being a child of God.
We are all made children of God through Baptism, and Jesus calls us to live out our adoption into the family of the Church in today’s Gospel. He calls us to act as children of God. All we have to do is hear the Word of God and act on it. Pretty simple, right? But it's not. The only person who managed to do that perfectly was His Immaculately Conceived mother.
To hear the Word of God and act on it is not just the words of Scripture but the call of the Son of God, the Word, and to bring Him into the world with our actions. To truly hear the Word of God we hear with more than our ears or our minds.
We must hear with our hearts.
His Word must penetrate to our very depths. We contemplate Him, spend time in His presence in the Scripture, in the Eucharist, and in our hearts. As we do this, He changes us. When He changes us, our acts bear Him into the world.
I have learned this first hand over the years as I have opened myself up to God's changing power in my daily time of meditative prayer. Taking even ten minutes with the daily readings or focusing in on one verse has transformed my life. I lead my children to do this as well knowing that only He can reach the depths of their souls.
When we do this, we live out the graces of our Baptisms as Christ’s sisters and brothers.
We must hear with our hearts. // Susanna SpencerClick to tweet
Many holy orders are founded on a life dedicated to prayer and contemplation. Do you know about the Carthusians who live in silence to achieve these ends?
Susanna Spencer is the Theological Editor for Blessed is She who studied theology and philosophy in her earlier life. She happily cares for her three adorable little girls, toddler boy, and her dear husband in Saint Paul when not writing and editing. She loves beautiful liturgies, cooking delicious meals, baking amazing sweets, reading good books, raising her children, casually following baseball, and talking to her philosopher husband. She is a contributing author to our children's devotional prayer book, Rise Up and Theological Editor of the Catechism Studies, the Mystery Studies, and the Works of Mercy study. You can find out more about her here.
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