Dominicas de la Presentación - Capítulo General 2019

La Turena, Bucaramanga (Colombia), 07/17/2019, Fr. Harold Cuervo Rodríguez, Carmelite priest.- In the Gospel we have just proclaimed, Jesus appears speaking with his Father, that is, he was PRAYING.

It is a prayer of Thanksgiving, and he says, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and have revealed them to the LITTLE ONES”.
God has wanted, in his infinite and perfect will, to reveal himself to the "LITTLE ONES", and Jesus himself reaffirms this by saying: "Yes, Father, for that is what pleased you to do."
This statement shows us that the place of GOD'S REVELATION is in SMALLNESS, because God Himself has found it good.

GOD REVEALS HIMSELF TO THE LITTLE ONES
Smallness thus becomes a place of revelation, where God is discovered and made known. Therefore, if we want to know God we must be SMALL.
Here, Jesus himself is indicating a spiritual path, a journey towards Holiness, called SMALLNESS. This journey requires an exodus to every claim of greatness and power; it is here, in the face of all these human pretensions, that God hides himself and does not want to be revealed. Whoever pretends greatness will experience a great spiritual emptiness called THE CONCEALMENT OF GOD.
It occurs to me to think that one way to transcend borders is to go towards what is SMALL; In other words, an exodus to every claim of greatness and power.
Whoever transcends borders towards smallness, stripped of all desire for greatness, has become truly HUMBLE.
HUMILITY is, so to speak, the letter of introduction for those who have been able to transcend the borders towards SMALLNESS, with the desire to shed any pretense of human greatness, in order to witness to DIVINE Revelation.
Through our fundamental choice as consecrated persons, transcending borders towards smallness is not a personal decision for whoever wants it or not, it is an OBLIGATION acquired at Profession, a solemn oath of the Evangelical Councils.
The HUMILITY of the Saints is the reflection of this spiritual work, a journey of holiness towards the path of SMALLNESS. The humble Marie Poussepin reflects this. She left Dourdan to go in search of SMALLNESS: the orphan girls of Sainville.
To go in search of the small ones we cannot go in the form of giants, we can only reach them by also becoming small.

The humility of Marie Poussepin is the testimony of a woman who, stripped of all claims of greatness, humbled herself before God, in the image of the Virgin Mary, who humbled herself by becoming a slave. Marie Poussepin was able to discover the logic of greatness for God, which is precisely in smallness.
Following Christ, in the school of holiness of Marie Poussepin, takes us on the spiritual journey of Smallness, which is not synonymous with weakness but It is a divine gift.
God reveals himself to Moses in a bush and when he realized that the bush was a divine revelation, he immediately covered his face because he was afraid to see God.
God looked at the smallness of Moses and therefore decided to reveal Himself to him. Faced with this strangeness, Moses asked, "Who am I to go to Pharaoh or to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” Moses is aware of his smallness in the face of such a great task, so much so that it seems impossible for him to bear it, and to this God responds:

"I AM WITH YOU"
The same words of the Angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary. "THE LORD IS WITH YOU." This means that GOD IS WITH THE LITTLE ONES and precisely God chooses the little ones for big missions.
This littleness was also felt by Saint Paul, and the Lord replied: "MY GRACD IS ENOUGH FOR YOU." God reveals himself in our littleness by sustaining us in our own weakness, and thus sends us, and with his presence makes us strong. "The cry of the sons of Israel has come to me, and I have seen how they are oppressed."
He sends us to the little ones, his weak and needy children. And for that He wants us too, SMALL. Without humility there is no smallness, without smallness there is no revelation; if there is no revelation, we will not know the will of God and without the will of God, we will not feel sent by Him to help those most in need.
Dear Chapter Members do not forget about SMALLNESS. Let us transcend all pretense of greatness until we reach the high hills of humility. Only in this way will God reveal himself to us, because in this way his divine will has willed it.
You already have two beautiful mirrors where you can see reflected in what consists the greatness of smallness: the Most Holy Virgin and Blessed Mother Marie Poussepin. Let us not be afraid to strip ourselves of everything in order to be small, because God is with us and his grace is enough for us. Amen.