The Power of An Infant

Have you ever held an infant and been overwhelmed by love for this tiny human being? The reality of a man and a woman who love each other and decide to get married, who then consummate their love and 9 months later have to give that love a name is so powerful. So powerful. I didn’t understand it like this when I held my baby sister because she’s only 5 years younger than me. I didn’t understand it when, throughout my teen years and I did an increasing amount of babysitting, I held others’ babies either. I’ve always loved children but the powerful witness of their merely existing never really occurred to me.

Then I held my newest nephew at Christmastime. Then just shy of only 3 months old, he is such a sweet little boy. The longer you sit with him the more likely he is to start smiling at your face — and who can resist that? I sat with him on my lap and looked at his darling little face while I cradled his head and neck carefully in my hands. Maybe it’s because I grew up with my sister that I now have this perspective: as I held my little nephew, I was overcome by the power of his parents’ love for each other and grateful for their cooperation with God’s plan that led to the creation of this sweet little boy.

(2/27/19)

Towards the end of the Christmas season (oh, I just dated this post. But that’s what happens when I only update weekly), I stopped by a Catholic Church on my way home from an errand and knelt in front of the Nativity scene in the Sanctuary. I had just finished doing something hard and was in a moment of utter gratitude that the anxiety had not taken my life in the process of getting it done. (Many will recognize the feeling - I’m really not being dramatic.) As I gazed on the figurine of the Infant Christ Child, my mind went back to that moment of holding my nephew - I think because of how struck I was by the power of love in that moment: in gazing at my nephew I saw clearly the face of Christ as an Infant. And while I contemplated this image, these five words kept resounding in my heart: “You did it for me.” I heard them over and over again and for a moment I had no idea why or what it meant. Then I connected the dots. When I held my nephew, overcome as I was by the power of love and the sweetness of his innocence, another of my thoughts was “I would do anything for you,” because that’s what love drives us to do. Gazing now at the Face of the Infant Jesus, God was simply speaking a truth to me about that hard thing I had just done, telling me “you did it for me.” (Cf. Matthew 25:40)

I knew in my heart at that moment that God was also saying to me, “thank you. I love you. And I’m proud of you.” I knew this because when you do something hard or significant for the one you love most and he or she says any few words of gratitude, the look in his or her eyes say the rest. Obviously, I couldn’t see Jesus’ eyes but I knew that he was whispering these truths to me in my heart. And that’s the power of an infant: love that speaks to you by merely existing.

This is oftentimes how I approach my prayer time. I picture the Infant Christ Child. I hold him in my lap and I delight in him the way I do when I hold my nephew. And you know those sweet, precious baby smiles and coos with which little ones oftentimes respond to you? Imagine Baby Jesus delighting in you just like that. That is truth. That is the same baby who we are walking with this Lent — perhaps giving things up along the way that may be obstacles in the relationship (you’d hate to interrupt nap time). That same baby has grown into a mature man and he’s about to offer the last drop of his blood for love of you.

Let him love you this Lent. Spend time with him in Sacred Scripture. Hold his mother’s hand as you pray the rosary and let her share with you about her Son. Don’t be afraid. Remember: it’s really quite simple. Caring for an infant is - not easy, but simple. Look into those smiling, cooing eyes and let Baby Jesus delight in you.

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