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A Guest Post by AWOL Mommy (Princeton grad, former military intelligence officer and mom of a 3 year old girl and a 3 month old boy) very much in tune with the theme of this blog, Building Cathedrals, and this month, May, dedicated to Mary.<\/span>\n

I just finished reading Peter Seewald\u2019s 1996 interview with (then) Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger<\/a> and I was struck by the applicability of his words to our vocation as mothers. Specifically, the Pope describes the \u201ctheology of littleness\u201d as \u201ca basic category of Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Littleness seems to work itself into my daily life in many ways: my companions are little, their sandwiches and socks must be correspondingly little, but, more abstractly, I often feel that the tasks I must accomplish are so little. I confuse \u201clittle\u201d with unimportant \u2014 which Cardinal Ratzinger does not allow. Mopping floors and folding underwear feel like little tasks \u2013 little and insignificant, however, the Pope\u2019s words in Salt of the Earth <\/em>reminded me that they are not. Rather, the love which forms the backbone of my decision to be a dedicated mother who must accomplish these tasks empowers me and my family.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n