My beautiful wife Joy is truly a joy. She is now 8 months pregnant with our seventh child, a girl.

As we prepare for a new baby and our daughter’s new baptism, we begin to rethink what it means to be a parent. Who will this child become? Lord, give us the gifts that we need.

There is a wonderful little quote from Saint Bonaventure where he asks parents to hide their little children in the open side of Jesus as a sparrow hides her chicks in a nest. It is a wonderful image for parents to contemplate:

“Arise, then, beloved of Christ! Imitate the dove that nests in a hole in the cliff, keeping watch at the entrance like the sparrow that finds a home. There like the turtledove hide your little ones, the fruit of your chaste love. Press your lips to the fountain, draw water from the wells of your Savior; for this is the spring flowing out of the middle of paradise, dividing into four rivers, inundating devout hearts, watering the whole earth and making it fertile.”

– Saint Bonaventure, Opusculum 3, Lignum vitae, 29-30. 47: Opera omnia 8, 79.

We should daily place our little children into the side of Jesus. We parents should press our lips to his heart and receive the life-giving water of everlasting life. All goodness and life flows from His Sacred Heart.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Question: What are practical ways that parents can put this into practice? Daily Rosary. Evening blessing of the children? What do you with your children, grandchildren, or godchildren?