The other night I was I watching EWTN and they were showing an old re-run of Mother Angelica’s show. During the program, Mother was asking the audience what they were giving Jesus for Christmas. Usually we don’t think about what we are going to give Jesus for Christmas, but we should, Mother said, because after all it is his birthday.
As I heard people call in to the program and tell Mother what they were going to give the King of Kings for his birthday, I started to think about what I would give him. What could I possibly give Jesus Christ for Christmas?
Well, there is actually a lot I can do for Jesus on his birthday. I think this Christmas I’m going to start by humbly accepting the advice my spiritual director gives me. Sometimes my spiritual director advises me to do something, and I don’t do it because I don’t want to. Or I do it for a little while and stop. I think this really needs to stop. Every time I reject my spiritual director’s advice and do my own thing, I always get very clear signs from God that I need to be a little more humble and follow the advice I’m getting. For example, I recently finished reading St. Therese of Lisieux’s autobiography “The Story of a Soul.” Towards the end of the book, she says that nuns are “always assured of being on the right path” so long as they do the will of their superiors. She adds that when a nun stops following what she is told by her superiors, she “steps away from the path that she [the superior] says to follow and maintains that [God] isn’t perfectly enlightening those who nonetheless stand in His place, immediately the soul goes astray into arid paths where it is soon lacking the water of grace.” This passage really speaks to me, even though I’m not a nun who’s taken vows of obedience. It resonates with me because it helps me to see that God has put this spiritual director in my life for a reason, and that He is using him to help me grow in faith and holiness. I just need to trust that God is “perfectly enlightening” my spiritual director.
So Jesus, that is my birthday present to you: obedience. Happy birthday!
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