“But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.’” (Isaiah 43:1).
There is a beautiful little hymn that I used to enjoy singing when I was a little girl.
It is called “Do not be Afraid” and it contains a line that says, “I have called you by your name, you are Mine.” And this is really a reflection of Isaiah 43:1-7, which says, “But now thus says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.’” (Isaiah 43:1).
And I have been reflecting on that hymn and that prayer over the last few days. For it seems that we are each called to something. That I already knew. I felt a calling to motherhood in some capacity since I was a very little child. When I was younger I believed that this calling could only be answered through the biological children that I would have. However, I have come to realise that mothers can be spiritual mothers. And I am a mother to souls far more numerous than my own biological children. In some ways, I am a mother to my own parents and my siblings, to my husband and my community. And in other ways, I am a mother to the strangers for whom I pray. And I have come to realise that when I love as I am called to love – with a mother’s heart – then I am able to influence souls through prayers just as a mother influences her children through her words and deeds.
But as I have been reflecting on this calling over the last few days, I have also begun reflecting on the words of that passage from Sacred Scripture… You see, I have always focused on the WHAT I was called to do, but I have spent very little time focusing on the HOW…
How does God call me to the duties of my life?
Is it with gentleness and softness? Usually not. After all, upon reflection, the times in my life where I have most changed and elevated myself to the calling of my Heavenly Father have been the difficult times – the times when it felt as though God were breaking me, when in fact He was moulding me – helping me to grow into what was required of me… As many of the Saints have said, God rarely choses the qualified – He qualifies the chosen.
In calling me to something greater than myself, God is required to push me to be something greater than myself… “He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy.” (Ephesians 1:4).
And I have been reflecting on that today. Because it seems to me that there is a lot of love in the stretch that is required of me to achieve my calling. A lot of love and a lot of trust in me by my Beloved. And today I pray for the Grace to allow Him to be happy with my efforts…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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