As Lent begins, I’m reminded of a story:
Once a little girl had a pretty plastic pearl necklace. The little girl wore her plastic pearls everywhere, even to bed! One night, at bedtime, her father asked her: “My little one, do you love me?”
“Yes Daddy! I love you so much!” she readily replied. “Will you, then, give me your pearls?” He asked.
“Oh no! Not my pearls Daddy! I love you, but can’t you ask for something else? My favorite bear? I would give you that in a heartbeat. But not my pearls. Please daddy!”
The father kissed his daughter and said, “Just remember I love you very much.” A couple of months later the little girl’s father made the same request. The girl gave the same response. And again a couple of months after that. Each time the answer and outcome were the same. But then one night when her dad came to tuck her in, he found the little girl holding her pearls in her hand. The little girl said, “Daddy, I love you so much, you know I do. But if giving you my pearls will tell you how much I love you, and make you happy, then here daddy, I want you to have them.” There were tears in her eyes as she spoke these words while holding out her prized possession. Her father received his daughter’s necklace. And with his eyes kindly and lovingly gazing into his daughter’s eyes, he said. “Thank you, my child! I am so glad you can finally share and trust me with your pearl necklace, especially knowing how much it means to you.” The father then presented her a gift. He said, “These, my child, are real pearls! Aren’t they beautiful, even more than your necklace? I’ve wanted to give them to you but thought best to wait until you were ready to give up the others. Now that you have the real thing, there will be no need for the others!” A very surprised and delighted daughter kept this treasure and the message it carried the rest of her days. She held this special moment and its priceless lessons in her heart.
Receiving great blessings often requires letting go of other things, sometimes perhaps even things we think we want or need to hold on to. At times this may mean letting go precisely of those things one may fear losing most! Such was the story of a girl, her dad, and some pearls. But this is our story too! How many times we hold on to things and find it hard to trust God when He is wanting to do something new and better in our lives.
Whatever will happen come July, yes, there are good things that we will have to let go of. It will be hard. But sometimes we must let go of certain things, to allow or make space for the bigger or higher thing that the Lord wants to do!
Peace,
-Fr. Kevin
