I just want to love...

As I gaze upon this statue of our Blessed Mother holding the child Jesus close to her heart, I can’t help but see love. This statue is a beautiful representation of the love of a mother for her child, setting her life aside for the care of the life that came from her. This child is “flesh of her flesh and bone of her bones.” As the Christ child lays his head on Mary’s shoulder in rest, she gently holds his right hand, close to her heart.

Seeing this, I can’t help but hear a call to do the same with my life. If I want to come closer to Christ, to be Christ, I must first learn to love Christ. I must let him penetrate my heart to its innermost depths, just as Mary did as his mother. I must give up my personal wants and desires until all they become is Christ. Christ should be my first want, my first desire. He was present for creation, already preparing for the day when he would come and live among us. He truly has nothing but love for me. And who am I not to return that love? What is that love to become if I do not let it pierce my heart? What is that love to become if I am to try and keep it to myself?

So if I am to bring him to life as a priest, I must learn to let him in my innermost being, just as Mary allowed her Son into her innermost being. I must learn to love him, so that I can make that sacrifice which she made through her “Yes” to the angel, and which Christ made manifest in the Eucharist, which we find available to us everyday.

So, as I continue to gaze at this statue of our Blessed Mother holding the child Jesus close to her heart, I can’t help but feel loved.