Fr. James Martin, author of The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything and My Life with the Saints, posts scripture reflections regularly on Facebook. He published following text (which gives insights into the second part of this past Sunday's Gospel) on August 14, 2012:
"Jesus asks us to become 'like children' (Greek:
paidia) in order to enter in the kingdom of God, [stressing] that it is the humility of the child that his followers must
emulate. That must have come as a real shock to his disciples, not only because
they always seemed to be jockeying for 'first place' in Jesus’s inner circle,
but because children in the time of Jesus were not afforded the attention they
are today; instead, they were considered unimportant, even marginal, figures.
But Jesus takes those marginal figures and places them squarely in the center
of his vision of the Christian life.
Now, normally being 'like a child,' as Jesus said, is taken as
an encouragement to be innocent and trusting. But what other 'childlike' characteristics could help us as Christians?
First of all, a child is curious.
Most young children know intuitively that they don’t know
everything (even though they act as if they do when they're throwing a
tantrum). But mostly they’re curious about everything. How does this work? What
happens if I stack all these blocks on top of one another? What’s this? How
much water can I fit into this balloon before it explodes? What does that feel
like? Why is the sky that color? What kind of bug is that? What happens if I
put Mentos into a bottle of Coke? Children view the world as a source of not
only wonder, but, implicitly, of education. How often do we approach the world
with those eyes? Are we know-it-alls? Or might God’s wonderful world still have
something still to teach us?
Another question: How curious are we about God? The more we age,
the more set in our ways that we can get. We read only certain writers on
certain topics; we watch only certain television shows; we talk only about
subjects with which we're familiar. It happens to everyone. Our spiritual lives
can become set, too. We pray a certain way and at certain times; we like only
certain spiritual writers; we like only this parish or this priest, or even
this particular Mass at this particular time. But God is always ready to
surprise us. And as Carlos Valles, SJ, said, if you always imagine God in the
same way, you won’t be ready for the wonderful new ways that God has in store.
Second, a child does not expect to be honored.
Go to any gathering of the rich and powerful and see how focused
people are on their status. If it’s a big fundraising dinner, for example,
people will note where they are seated, with whom they are seated, whether
their name is on the program, whether the master of ceremonies recognizes them,
and so on. On the other hand, if a child is with you, he might fuss over the
food (no chicken nuggets?) but he wouldn’t be that concerned if he were at
Table One or Table Twelve. Because of his position in society, the child does
not expect to be honored automatically. This is part of the natural humility of
the child. Can we simply approach life without expectations of honor?
Third, a child laughs. A lot. Over a silly cartoon on TV. Over
someone burping in church. Over the general unpredictability of life. Jesus
invites us to bring that childlike joy into our faith, too. If you have any
doubt about that difficulty of that in the Catholic world, check out the faces
on most people during Sunday Mass, which is supposed to be, after all, a
celebration. Jesus asks us to become like children and part of a child’s world
is joy. And laughter.
Jesus offers us some mysterious parables and stories to describe
the kingdom of God. He also offers us a clear model: the child. So in addition
to poring over Scripture commentaries to better understand what Jesus meant
about the grain of wheat or the mustard seed, take a look at a four-year-old
and see if he or she might be able to teach you something about life."
This article is reprinted with Fr. Jim Martin's permission. You can "like" Fr. Jim's page (and receive daily updates!) at: https://www.facebook.com/FrJamesMartin
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