It's so lovely to have a religious sister really appreciate the beauty of the sacrament of marriage and write such hopeful words to her lay sister.
"Oh, little sister, how He is blessing your little nest, how He loves you in entrusting these two little souls "whom He chose in Him before creation that they might be holy and spotless in His presence in love" (Saint Paul). You are the one who must guide them to Him and keep them all His.
(Letter 227 To her sister, vol. II, pg. 198)
How I love to hear that! You are the one who must guide them to Him and keep them all His.
I get sort of overwhelmed easily at the spiritual responsibilities of motherhood. I'm a poor Mom in my emotional, physical, and spiritual resources, in addition to my limited economic means. I'm the Mom who often forgets to trim her kids' fingernails. And yet God handed me four, mostly helpless, kids under the age of nine!
With my forgetful, distracted personality it can be totally terrifying to think that I've got full responsibilities for four souls for finding their way into consistent and perfect friendship with our Lord, Jesus Christ, both now on earth and in heaven.
Especially since there is just such a GLUT of happy, committed, pure-hearted Catholic in the United States today to encourage me, a poor mother, in every single sense of the word!!!
But just when I start to get dizzy with fear, along comes my cheerful bff Elizabeth of the Trinity. "How He loves you!" she says. She reminds me my "mothering job" with all it's appearance of chaos and contradictions is actually quite simple.
You are the one who must guide them to Him and keep them all His.
Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, pray for us!
