Spiritual Infancy: Living like Little Children

        Our Lord Jesus Christ was born as a child. For love of him, we must form in ourselves a spiritual childhood, that we always live as children in the hand of our Superiors and         Spiritual Directors. (OOCC, III, p. 43)

For St. Vincent Pallotti, the virtue of spiritual childhood consists of a person living his life with the attitude of a child in his relationship to God. We find this attitude in Jesus in his relationship to his Father. Throughout his life, in every situation, Jesus followed the will of his Father totally and with the freedom of the Son. St. Vincent advises everyone to practice this virtue of spiritual childhood in imitation of Jesus. Just as Jesus expressed his love as a son through the total surrender of his life to his Father, every person must express that he is a child of the Father through the surrender of his life to God. In the case of every human person, his surrender is often expressed through his openness in accepting the directives of his superiors and other persons who hold office as leaders. A person who sincerely accepts his limitations, fosters within himself a readiness to accept the authority of those whom God has placed over him as leaders, and enthusiastically accomplishes what they expect of him by practicing the virtue of spiritual childhood. St. Vincent constantly lived this spirit of spiritual childhood especially in his attitude towards his spiritual director and others in authority.

Do I live out the attitude of spiritual childhood in imitation of Jesus, the Son of the Father? Do I acknowledge those persons whom God has placed over me as leaders? Am I able to see the will of God in their directives? Do I enthusiastically accomplish the directives of my superiors in the spirit of Christ?

        For our boast is this … that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially towards you, with the simplicity and sincerity of God. (II Cor. 1: 12)