Spiritual Children are Real Children

An Interview with Gemma*

Fr. Kolbe Missionary of the Immaculata

A couple of my spiritual kids,
enriching the natural connection....
cousins (once removed)!

By Jillian Cooke, MAPM, MTh

You have a figurine of the baby Jesus on your pillow. Was it a gift?

Yes, From a missionary, I don't remember who now. It reminds me of the vows. 

That's wonderful! How long have you had it?

Only a couple of years. 

Oh, OK, and before... did you have some other little reminder?

No, no. There is no need. The reminder is in the heart. 

I see. I have a little figurine too. It is from my mom's first communion. She gave it to me on my first communion. It is the child Jesus, as he was in the temple. I don't think so much of the vows, but it reminds me of the consecrated family... that I have children, even if I don't have children. Am I making sense? (my Italian is very rough, but I grasp from her response that she understood)

Yes, Yes. Spiritual children. We "give birth" to many spiritual children with our lives... prayers and sufferings if they are offered God. We become, um, spiritual mothers! Yes, spiritual mothers. (Knowing this) helps alot in living well the consecrated life. I am not a "frustrated old lady" with no children and no spouse. I have spiritual children. 

Just because I'm not married, should I feel like a "poor woman?" 

(She waits a moment for me to acknowledge that I've heard and am listening.) 

I am married to Christ in the truest sense of the word. The Holy Father was just saying this to ..... consecrated persons. He called us to spiritual motherhood. (The exact quote: "There is chastity, but let it be a "fruitful chastity" which generates spiritual children in the Church. The consecrated woman is a mother, she must be a mother, not a "spinster!" Excuse me for speaking like this, but motherhood in the consecrated life is important, this fruitfulness!)

Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, in a cloister, what did she do outside? Nothing! But, she offered her life, sufferings, prayer and became a doctor of the Church. She died at 22, 23, 24.... I don't remember now how old she was.... a life so short, but so rich that the Church declared her a Doctor!

Remembering this also helps me, in my poverty, to live the consecrated life daily. At 90 years old your strength diminishes, no? It helps to turn every suffering over to the Lord for missionaries, first of all our own. If it hurts to walk, I walk, and I offer for our missionaries who have difficulty walking or some other.... We don't have to feel frustrated. Do you understand? 

(Again, she waits to be sure I understand not only the words themselves, but what she is trying to say. In order to clarify, she continues...)

First of all it is God. God gives all these thoughts. Saint Paul says that we depend on Him to will and to act. Saint Paul passes through my mind so that I do not rejoice in myself, but in He who does everything. Is it clear? (This time she doesn't wait, but keeps right on speaking.) This helps maintain humility. Also, my age is a grace from God. In my family, no one has reached my age. It is a gift from the Lord, my life. I get lost in all this goodness! This joy and serenity is not fake. It comes from deep within myself. There has been profound purification, but the joy is real. 

*Gemma is a ninety-year old Fr. Kolbe Missionary living in the "Casa Padre Kolbe" in Borgonuovo, Bologna, Italy. On my list trip, I requested an interview and she obliged with the understanding that I would respect her privacy.This part was from the beginning of the interview. Gemma knew I would share a few little parts, after translating them to English,  and I thank her and God for the wealth of experience and love she shared with me in such a short time.