All must become little in the eyes of God
MESSAGE #2518 from the Blessed Mother August 19, 2003
My daughter, those children who pray the Rosary shall be protected by my mantle. They shall be protected from the evil that lingers, lingers in this world. God is so pleased when He sees so many little children praying the Rosary. God is pleased because their prayers are truly from their heart. All must become “little” in the eyes of God and be humble, loving children. All must pray from their heart in order for their prayers to reach Heaven. Be little children, for God chooses the simple to do great work for Him.
Be humble, loving children so that God can use you in a powerful way. Do not boast or be prideful, for this is what will distance you from God. Be truthful and loving so that the world will see the joy of Jesus shining through you. Do not criticize or judge others, for this will prevent you from being a child of God. A loving, humble heart is what will conquer the forces of evil.
Now, please keep your focus on Jesus and by your humility and acts of kindness you will become strong warriors for Christ. Strive to be little, little children and you will be led closer to Jesus. Through your response you will grow in holiness, so do not delay. Be little, loving, humble children. Amen
Matthew 18:1-4
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
526 To become a child in relation to God is the condition for entering the kingdom. For this, we must humble ourselves and become little. Even more: to become “children of God” we must be “born from above” or “born of God”. Only when Christ is formed in us will the mystery of Christmas be fulfilled in us. Christmas is the mystery of this “marvelous exchange”:
O marvelous exchange! Man’s Creator has become man, born of the Virgin. We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share our humanity.
561 “The whole of Christ’s life was a continual teaching: his silences, his miracles, his gestures, his prayer, his love for people, his special affection for the little and the poor, his acceptance of the total sacrifice on the Cross for the redemption of the world, and his Resurrection are the actualization of his word and the fulfillment of Revelation” John Paul II, CT 9).
An excerpt of a Homily by Fr. Robert Altier Feast of Saint Therese – Wednesday October 1, 2003
In the Gospel reading today, Our Lord tells us very, very clearly that unless we become like little children we will not enter into the kingdom of Heaven. It is that clear. It is an absolute necessity that one must become like a child in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven.
These are the lessons that we learn from Saint Therese: to become like a little child in the presence of God, to have that simplicity of a child which many of us find to be repulsive because we think that becoming more complex is the more impressive thing to do. God is not impressed at all because God is perfectly simple, and if we are going to become more like God we have to become more simple.
In becoming more simple, we will become more childlike. That is exactly what Our Lord tells us we must do. He does not give us an option. He uses the same word in several places: “Unless you are born again of water and the Holy Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven”; “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you”; “Unless you become like a little child, you cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven.” It is not an option for us. We must be baptized, we must receive Holy Communion, and we must be as a little child.
We need to keep God always in our presence. No matter where we are, He is in our hearts if we are in the state of grace, but we need to keep our minds focused on Him. We need to check in with Him frequently, to come to Him with our problems, to thank Him in the good times, To learn from the most simple ones, to learn from the most innocent ones, to learn from those who are the most precious in the eyes of God: little children, who just simply love and trust and do not worry about anything. That is the way God wants us to live and that is what we learn from our little Saint of today – how to be like a little child in the arms of God.
