Gospel

Matthew 18:1-5, 10

The disciples approached Jesus and said,

"Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?"

He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,

"Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,

you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Whoever humbles himself like this child

is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.

And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

"See that you do not despise one of these little ones,

for I say to you that their angels in heaven

always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

Reflection

I remember so vividly growing up and believing that I had a guardian angel. In Catholic school, we used to sit to one side of our desk seat just to allow our angel to sit with us. It was a beautiful image of a way of understanding something. As a child, yes there are creatures that do take care of us.

But what's interesting about this passage is it really takes you deeper into the mystery of what Jesus wants you to see in a child. It's about their gifts, about their nature. It's about the fact that they are naturally trusting, creative, playful, curious. These are all qualities that we see in children that we as adults must never lose. Challenge is yes, God takes care of all children at the same time, he looks at us as adults and says, watch them. See them. Understand them. You must become like them.

Closing Prayer

Father, the world places before us models of who we should be. Our culture has a very strong emphasis on success financially, higher education, places of importance. But nothing is more important than our heart. And a heart of a child is so important for us to examine, so we can make sure we too are children of God. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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