126. Second Monday of Easter

Meditations no. 172 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Spiritual childhood.

Yesterday, in the words of St Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, the Church reminded us of the need to crave for pure spiritual milk, like new-born babes. And today, our Lord gives us a similar reminder in the Gospel.

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him: “Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him: “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?

It is a matter of being childlike on the inside. The smaller we are, the greater is our need for our Lord, and the more brightly God’s grace shines on us. Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. St John Chrysostom points out that the child possesses the basis of all virtues: simplicity, sincerity and humility. These are fundamental for a childlike relationship with God, for trusting him and abandoning ourselves to him. And when we learn to become small before God, we discover the truth of the paradox described by St Paul: For when I am weak, then I am strong. The more childlike we are, the more powerful we become. Child, when you really are one, you will be all-powerful.

Quasi modo geniti infantes… (Like new-born babes… ) It has made me very happy to spread everywhere this attitude of being children, little children of God, an attitude which enables us to savour those other words we find in the Liturgy of today’s Mass: All that is born of God overcomes the world. It conquers difficulties and achieves victory in this great battle for the peace of souls and of society.

Our wisdom and our strength lie precisely in our being convinced of our littleness, of our nothingness in the eyes of God. But at the same time he himself is prompting us to get moving, to proclaim confidently his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, even though we have errors and failings, provided that is, that, as well as being weak, we are fighting to overcome our weakness.

You must have often heard me repeat the following advice contained in Scripture: discite benefacere (learn to do good), for there can be no doubt that we need to learn how to do good and to teach others to do the same. In this, we have to begin with ourselves, by striving to discover which particular good we should be aiming at, for each one of us, for each of our friends, for each and every person. I know no better way of considering the greatness of God than to start from this inexpressible and simple fact that he is our Father and we are his children,

Spiritual childhood: humility and responsibility.

Becoming small in God’s sight and living in spiritual childhood does not mean abandoning oneself lazily to some sort of spiritual and apostolic quietism. Our Father taught this in different ways through his words and example.

In those early years after the Spanish civil war, I used to go to Valencia quite often, as some of you will remember. We used to do the prayer wherever we could, sometimes even on the beach. Towards evening one day, as a marvellous sunset spread across the water, we saw a boat approaching the shore. Out of it got some sun-tanned men - men burned by the sea winds. Soaking wet, they looked as though they were made of bronze. Then they began to haul in the net they had been dragging behind their boat. Straining every muscle, they heaved mightily, their feet sunk deep into the sand. Suddenly, a very small boy appeared and, going up to them, he grabbed a stretch of rope with his tiny hands and began to pull. Those rough, coarse men felt their hearts soften, and they let the child stay with them, even though he was more of a hindrance than a help.

And I thought of you and me. You - who were not yet in the Work - and myself, as we go about our daily “pulling on the rope” in so many things. If we become small before our Lord God, we will more easily become saints; then we will haul the net to shore, full of fish shining like silver. When our strength begins to fail, God’s strength will come to our aid.

Spiritual childhood includes, on one hand, the awareness of our limitations and insignificance. A baby is the very symbol of weakness; it depends on its parents for everything. And such is our situation before our Lord. Without him, we have nowhere to go. Apart from me you can do nothing. On the other hand, we are God’s children, so that what was weakness in us becomes power and effectiveness. Then we can say with St Paul: I can do all things in him who strengthens me. This is how miracles are worked in our life of spiritual childhood. Our littleness before God, and the fact that we are his children, lead us to be humble. Humility is the root of our effectiveness. Our littleness before God also leads us to face events calmly and optimistically. We know that everything will turn out well, because it is God who gives the growth. We are obviously going to be daring, when we know that we are backed up by the omnipotence and love of God our Father. When you are genuinely a child, and you follow the ways of childhood - if you are moved by God to follow this path - you will be invincible.

Spiritual childhood as a sign of inner maturity.

Be babes in evil, but in thinking be mature. Our inner maturity consists of always trying to be children in our relationship with God and our Lady.

Have you noticed what a great difference there is between a child falling and a fall by an adult? In the case of children, most falls are unimportant; they are always falling over! If they do start crying, their father tells them: “Look here now, men don’t cry.” And the incident ends with the child trying earnestly to please his father.

But what happens if an adult loses his balance and falls awkwardly to the ground? If it weren’t so pitiful, his misfortune would provoke merriment and laughter. Besides, the fall may have serious consequences, and if it’s an old man, it might even give rise to a fracture that will never heal. In our interior life, it does all of us good to be quasi modo geniti infantes (like new-born babes), like those tiny tots who seem to be made of rubber, and who even enjoy falling over because they get up right away and are once more running around, and also because they know their parents will always be there to console them, whenever they are needed.

If we try to act like them, our stumblings and failures in the interior life (which, moreover, are inevitable) will never result in bitterness. Our reaction will be one of sorrow but not discouragement, and we’ll smile with a smile that gushes up like fresh water out of the joyous awareness that we are children of that Love, that grandeur, that infinite wisdom, that mercy, that is our Father. During the years I have been serving our Lord, I have learned to become a little child of God. I would ask you to do likewise, to be quasi modo geniti infantes, children who long for God’s word, his bread, his food, his strength, to enable us to behave henceforth as Christian men and women.

And our Father adds: Serious falls, of the kind that can do great damage to the soul, at times almost irreparable damage, can always be traced back to the pride of thinking oneself to be grown up and self-sufficient. In such cases, people seem almost incapable of asking for help from those who can give it: not only from God, but also from a friend, or from a priest. And the poor soul, alone in its misfortune, sinks into confusion and loses its way.

Let us beseech God, right now, never to let us feel self-satisfied, but rather to make us grow ever more desirous of his help, his word, his Bread, his consolation and his strength: rationabile sine dolo lac concupiscite (long for the pure spiritual milk): foster your hunger, your ambition to be like children. Believe me, it is the best way to conquer pride; and it’s the only way to make our conduct good, great-hearted, divine.

A firm and tender devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother, will help us to be children in God’s sight.