Being Children

"Let the children come to me, for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

Matthew 19:13-15 is a tiny gospel passage about little children approaching Jesus, and the disciples reproaching them. But Jesus tells his disciples, "Let the children alone, and do not stop them coming to me; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of heaven belongs." The endearing words both of the evangelist ("little" children) and of Jesus (let them be; let them alone; let them come; .... such as these) give us a sweetness of the situation. But how could the disciples not feel with Jesus or the children? Strangely, on the contrary, the disciples scold the children. These children should have known their place; they don’t really count. They should be seen, but definitely not heard. But Jesus reiterates that "the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these little children." It is not about being big, but becoming little. How often we have forgotten this and demanded that one needs to be an adult! ("Grow up, man!") Matthew uses this event to show the new kind of house-order Jesus came to introduce. All community members, young and old, count as equals not only in the eyes of God, but in the practice of Jesus’ community itself.

Pope Francis recently said, “Children cry, they are noisy, they don’t stop moving. But it really irritates me when I see a child crying in church and someone says they must go out. God’s voice is in a child’s tears: they must never be sent out of church. The children’s tears are the best sermon.” Isn't this really gospel from the mouth of the Holy Father? Let little ones be!

To understand Jesus Christ and his good news, we have to pray for the grace of a "beginner's mind." We need to be as trusting and open as a child, a beginner. What blocks spiritual teaching is the assumption that we already know, or that we don't need to know. Without humility there is no growth, no spiritual maturity. In the words of Henri Nouwen, we must learn to live each day, each hour, yes, each minute as a new beginning, as a unique opportunity to make everything new. This is what Prophet Ezekiel (in today's first reading) recommends the House of Israel and all of us: Make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Like a child, let us trust in our Lord who tells us, "Behold, I make all things new." Every moment! At this very moment!