August 12, 2025 // Optional Memorial of Saint Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14
Reflect on the Word //
“The roses are beautiful!”
I grinned as the towheaded toddler expressed her delight over the small vase of pink flowers displayed on the library’s circulation desk. Now, the flowers in question weren’t roses—they were carnations. And they certainly were not what I would christen “beautiful.” To be honest, I hadn’t even noticed them, despite the fact that they had been flaunting their unimpressive petals beside my workstation all morning—that is, until this innocent child had the eyes to see and pointed them out.
Later that week, as I waited on a young mom loaded down with picture books, I was met by a sweet observation from her little girl, who piped out gleefully: “She has the same color eyes that I do, Mommy!”
Amazed, I realized that in my haste to serve, I had failed to look (really look) at my young customer long enough to notice that her eyes were indeed green, just like mine.
Jesus would have noticed, I mused as I considered the keen insights of these precious little ones who had crossed my path. Perhaps that is why our Lord tells His disciples in today’s Gospel that “unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).
Children have a great capacity to see as God sees, with a singular and selfless gaze of love. Most of them don’t let the anxieties and warped interests of the world alter or obscure their vision. They see beauty in carnations. They catch the color of a stranger’s eyes. They possess an innate awe of God’s creation and faith in its purest form. Simply put, their young hearts are more able to be turned and attuned to the Heart of the Father, Who never stops rejoicing over them.
So, dear sister, let’s turn. Let’s aim to emulate the sheer wonder and humility children embody wherever they go. Then, we will surely be invited to taste the delights which all little souls experience in Heaven.
Relate to the Lord // Look at a picture of your younger self and ask the Father to show You His Heart for her.
Cathy Webb est une vierge consacrée du diocèse de Wilmington et la créatrice du journal Sacred Heart to Heart . Aide-bibliothécaire à plein temps, elle aime les livres longs, les jupes longues et surtout les longs entretiens avec son divin Époux. Elle se réjouit de la rencontre priante avec l'Église universelle, mais occupe une place spéciale dans son cœur pour Dublin, en Irlande, où elle a donné au Christ son « oui ». En savoir plus sur elle ici .
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