Gospel of 11 August 2020
Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14
Anyone who welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me
The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.
‘See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.
‘Tell me. Suppose a man has a hundred sheep and one of them strays; will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go in search of the stray? I tell you solemnly, if he finds it, it gives him more joy than do the ninety-nine that did not stray at all. Similarly, it is never the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.’
Reflexion
Older generations are watching with alarm the new generations emerging, each feeling more entitled than the previous one. What they often see is, young badly misbehaved uncouth brats who seem to have no respect for their elders and who would demand a whole long list of things which the older generation would never imagine having the audacity to even ask.
We have an exceedingly knowledgeable and skilful generation of young people but perhaps a generation that suffers from a gross deficit of maturity. Maturity is the ability to take responsibility, to see and act on behalf of others, while immaturity is refusing to take responsibility and not seeing things from someone else's point of view. One’s own point of view is paramount.
Is this what our Lord is suggesting to His disciples and to Christians when He said that we should “become like little children”? It is important to note that He is telling us to become like little children and not “remain” little children. What is being promoted is not immaturity but simplicity and humility.
An ordinary child, who has not been warped by ill treating or spoiling, possesses humility and simplicity. Entitlement is learned behaviour. It arises from a parenting style which teaches children that they have rights without any corresponding responsibility, that they are entitled to things even when they’ve not earned them.
A child naturally has the capacity for total joy and total surrender. Without being showered with expensive toys, he learns the joy of simplicity. Simplicity is not—as so many think—silliness. Simplicity means being uncomplicated, not being two faced (hypocrites). The first exercise in simplicity is to accept oneself as one is. Simplicity naturally flows into humility. A child who is not constantly bombarded with praises and shielded from authentic criticisms, will eventually learn the joy of humility.
To go back to childhood means that we must get back true values; that we must regain simplicity and humility, and, above all, we must regain a sense of awe and wonder so that we once again treat God, and things of God as sacred and with reverence.
This is why the Kingdom of heaven belongs to little children. Spoilt immature entitled adults (who are perpetual petulant adolescents) have little appreciation for the things of God, because they suffer the delusion that they themselves are gods. They expect everyone to bend the knee, to do their bidding. In fact, in their hubris, they blindly believe that God and the entire world must meet their every demand. The truth is that God owes us nothing but we owe Him everything. It takes a simple, humble innocent child to recognise this simple truth.
So, in a world where so many pride themselves of possessing a more sophisticated culture and knowledge than their forebears, only one simple truth matters in the end: “unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”