Alexia González-Barros González (Madrid, March 7, 1971 – Pamplona, December 5, 1985) is a young girl from Spain who has been proclaimed venerable by the Catholic Church. On a television program, Alexia’s mother Moncha said that one day after confession, when they came out of church, Alexia genuflected with deep piety. When they left the church, she said to her: “You know, Alexia? I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that it’s nice to say something affectionate to the Lord when we genuflect before the Tabernacle.”
Alexia looked at her with her big eyes wide open and an expression both amazed and amused, and said with great conviction: “Of course, Mom! I say to Him: Jesus, may I always do what You want.”
Alexia made that phrase the motto of her life, and that, according to those who lived with her, was her secret; the secret that not only enabled her to accept her illness with a spirit of faith (at age 13 she was diagnosed with a malignant tumor that left her paralyzed in a short time and took her life 10 months after the diagnosis) but also to live in serene joy even in the midst of pain.
Although this might seem like a psychological strategy in order to resign ourselves to accept whatever happens to us in life, for those who live with faith, that fundamental truth, of following the example of Our Lord Jesus Christ, whose food was to do the will of His Father, is a source of joy and supernatural serenity, which is exactly what Alexia experienced.
Psychological resignation of “accepting because I have no other choice” can never fill us with supernatural joy; on the contrary, accepting what happens to us as coming from the loving hand of God fills our spirit with love, and that love fills us with satisfaction and serenity in the midst of life’s joys and sorrows.
The Will of God, which often manifests itself as necessary and inevitable (as in the case of an illness like the one Alexia suffered) but other times does not (as in the case of vocation) is always a gift from God for those who, like Alexia, are concerned with doing what God wants and not what they themselves want.
It is a gift from God because the essence of the Will of God is Love. Behind each and every one of the designs of God’s Providence there is a design of special love for the person who is the recipient of that design. If we accept it because it is what God wants for us, that acceptance will fill us with joy and serenity, that comes from living in the love of God.
Therefore, the best motto for life is “may I always do what You want,” and if we make that motto the plan of our life, not as a program of activities but as a living force from within, our life will overflow with joy and serenity, just like Alexia.
