Cradled in the Arms of Love: Childlike Confidence as the Heart of Holiness

Holiness is often seen as a state unattainable by the ordinary person and reserved for some spiritual "elite," or at least for those who have a special vocation in the Church. However, the teaching of the Church is very clear that each one of us is called by God to sanctity. But what is sanctity, and how is it to be attained? In this book, the effort is made to illuminate the central reality of all holiness, its "inner core." And when this reality begins to shed its light, we realize that holiness is not a mere human "accomplishment," a state of self-attained virtue and autonomy, but above all a state of childlike receptivity to our loving Father, a state of communion with Christ...the state of loving intimacy with the Trinity who dwells within us. In its inner core, it is the loving and trust-filled openness of a little child who knows that he or she is infinitely loved, and so can welcome the gift poured forth unceasingly by such a loving God, and can surrender entirely into his embrace in return. All of the other elements of life and holiness are held within this primal intimacy, lost once through sin but restored within us through God's pure gift, is a wellspring of abiding peace and joy, which nothing can take away. This attitude of childlike trust and loving confidence is manifested, in a special way, in an interior openness of heart before God and before every person. Such openness, in turn, bears a "threefold" character, which is revealed through what are traditionally called the "evangelical counsels," namely, poverty, obedience, and chastity. These are not the reserve of consecrated religious persons, but manifest true holiness in the heart of every state of life, in the existence of each individual. Healing the wound of "closedness" that came about through the sin of Adam and Eve, in their pride, possessiveness, and pleasure-seeking, they are simply the expression of loving openness, an openness that flowers in profound intimacy with God.