This earthly life is one of trial and don’t we mothers know it?
Every day in our domestic realm there seems to be new trials, new challenges and a certain amount of battle fatigue.
No sooner are our children out of one challenging phase than they’re entrenched in another: nocturnal restlessness, biting, sickness, curiosity bordering on dangerous, attitudinal toddlers and threenagers, and the list goes on…and on.
And if you multiply the children, ultimately you multiply the challenges too.
Then, of course, there are the peripheral challenges of finances and budgeting, careers and work for both ourselves and our husbands, and the constant demands of life in general.
Life is tough, at times chaotic and overwhelming. And sometimes we’re a little more focused on the burdens than the blessings.
Maybe we feel underappreciated, or taken for granted. Maybe we’re just so tired that the little things that would barely register as a blip on our radar when we’re feeling ok, appear so provoking that we feel as though the whole world is against us.
It is easy to feel sorry for ourselves, to blame others and to dwell in our frustration.
But here I propose a change in our attitudes, and it’s all thanks to the recently canonised Saint Louis Martin, father of Saint Therese of Lisieux.
On one particular trip with his daughter Marie, who was at that time travelling in order to link up with her spiritual director, they encountered a number of challenges and delays. His daughter, upon voicing her displeasure, was gently told:
“You must not grumble, my Marie; God saw you needed this trial.” [cf. A Family of Saints]
Any one of our names might be substituted into this phrase, at any given time, but especially in our toughest times, and we would find solace.
The truth is, my fellow mothers, that our sanctification will be achieved, or not, through this domestic vocation which can so overwhelm us.
Each trial given to us presents an opportunity to travel further on our pilgrimage to Heaven. How we respond to each new challenge, or trial, is up to us.
To be honest, I found Saint Louis’ words to Marie confronting. I am slow – read, painfully so – to joyfully accept challenges. Jesus is asking me to carry my crosses and to see beyond the splinters. If, in our human nature, we are prone to fight or flight, I’m a fighter and sometimes that’s against what God wills for me. A flight of prayerful thanks and joyful recognition is surely much more in order.
Perhaps the way forward for me, indeed for all of us, is to pause when a new challenge arrives on our doorstep and rephrase the words of Saint Louis, from the perspective of our Heavenly Father:
“Do not grumble, my dear [your name]. I saw you needed this trial.”
May this simple phrase help us to greater spiritual consolation and resignation and help us on our way to Heaven.
Originally posted 2016-09-15 15:00:38.