Kneeling in church, her little hands folded tightly together, head resting against the pew in front of her, she is the perfect picture of angelic sweetness at the Holy Hour. Suddenly, she leans over and strokes my hair. "O Mama," she whispers, "you are so beautiful!" "Shh," I whisper back through my smile, with the realization that her words are a prayer of praise to God for blessing her with a mother's love. "Pay attention to Jesus in the Eucharist," I say.
She obediently turns back to focus her eyes on the Lord. She fingers her beads and prays along with all of the other voices that recite the rosary. Then, the church falls into silence as everyone speaks to God in the quiet of their hearts.
She sits back in the pew, looks through a few pages of her prayer book and begins to fidget. Her older brother nudges her and tells her to be quiet and pray. "I'm all done praying," she answers.
In a short time, she has praised God perfectly, in her own simple way, and is ready to move on to praise Him by enjoying a cookie at the social when the Holy Hour is over. And God is moving within her heart and soul in festive happiness for the simple prayer of a little child and her perfect love for Him.
Lord God, I am silenced and shamed when I realize how Your love overflows from my daughter's heart so easily and I pray that I will learn from the little ones to love You simply, to love You always. Amen.
Join Jenny at Just a Minute in Praying the Psalms
