Making Room for God

By: Ivonne J. Hernandez

As I am getting ready to begin my consecration renewal preparation on April 9th (to recite the promise on May 13th, the Feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament), I’ve been reading the Preparatory Meditations in Laura Worhacz’ book, Consecration to Jesus through Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament:
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As children of Mary, we enter into the consecration days. Let us remember that just as the Holy Spirit overshadowed our Blessed Mother, we must empty ourselves to let the Holy Spirit overshadow us. In this relationship with the Holy Spirit of God's Love, we prepare for prayer. The consecration is a prayer, given by our Father, to be born of our Mother, to grab hold of her hand and walk through our lives. (Worhacz, p.14)

This morning, we were running late for an appointment and my son grabbed a piece of leftover pizza from the refrigerator (Remember that, for college students, pizza is a perfectly appropriate choice for breakfast!). His sleepiness quickly turned to annoyance when he heard my now predictable question on Fridays, “Does that have pepperoni?”, and proceeded to return the slice back to the refrigerator. I could almost hear him thinking, “Is it STILL Lent?”

I think that beginning this period of preparation for consecration right in the middle of Lent is a gift of Divine Providence. At this point, many of us are probably feeling a little worn out by our Lenten journey. We might be feeling disappointed when we compare what we hoped to do this Lent to grow closer to Christ and what we have been able to accomplish. The idea of beginning a 33-day consecration preparation now may feel overwhelming. We might be feeling like we can’t add one more thing to our plate, but I think it is precisely the opposite. It is time to call on MOM! …” As children of Mary, we enter into the consecration days.”

The theme Laura presents to us during these preparatory meditations is one of emptying ourselves, of making room for the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts. This idea of making room for something new is one that became very real in our household these past couple of months, as we welcomed a new member to our home. No, we did not have a new baby; my mother moved in with us. She has been here about a month now, and I have to tell you, the transition has been much smoother than I had anticipated, at least for me. When I ponder on why that is, I realize that there was a lot of preparation that took place before the movers’ truck pulled in the driveway. There were six weeks of planning, of cleaning and reorganizing, of getting rid of a lot of unused stuff to make room for her. The blessing my mother brings by her presence would not have been possible if we held on to all the junk that was filling up our guest room closet and our garage. It is time to make room for God, to examine our hearts and see what else we need to get rid of. It is time, like Laura says, “to be born of our Mother, to grab hold of her hand and walk through our lives.”

I am excited about starting this period of preparation with Mary, my Heavenly mother. I know she will help me get rid of the junk filling up the room in my heart and will say with me, Come Holy Spirit! We hope you join us in this journey of faith. If you haven’t ordered your book, there is still time. You can even download a digital version from our website today. Buen camino!

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