Tag: childlike faith

“Let the children come to me.” | Saturday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

From the responsorial psalm: “A clean heart create for me, O God; and a steadfast spirit renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your Holy Spirit take not from me. Create a clean heart in me, O God.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 19:13-15)

Children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

In receiving the children and blessing them, Jesus teaches the disciples that the kingdom of heaven is for those whose faith is childlike. To remain childlike in faith is to turn back to Jesus continually as he invites us to come to him. To toil through everyday activities without taking him up on his invitation is joyless; to put off his touch, his healing imposition, is to do it our way or else. And that is misery. As the psalmist puts it, “Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me. I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall return to you.” The kingdom of heaven is for every one who hears and responds to the invitation of Jesus to come to him.

God, in coming to you in the Eucharist I begin the day in childlike faith that the time I take to go to you will be rewarded with your steadfast presence. Very quickly, as the day moves on, I forget to raise my eyes from the task at hand and realize you first gave me the means to accomplish the task and everything associated with it. Every good gift is yours. Give me the grace to return to you throughout the day in thanksgiving and with the conviction to make a new start. “Create a clean heart in me, O God.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

“You have revealed them to the childlike.” | Tuesday of the First Week of Advent

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Lk 10:21-24)

Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.”

As the seventy-two disciples sent out to proclaim the kingdom of God return, Jesus praises his Father for their childlike faith. What is hidden from the wise and the learned, God reveals to his servants. What prophets and kings could only dream of seeing and hearing, God blesses with the supernatural vision of faith in his Son. “No one knows who the Son is except the Father,” Jesus tells the disciples, “and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” In being sent out, the seventy-two put faith into practice and see God’s kingdom being established as Jesus reveals to them his Father.

God, in humble obedience the first disciples followed Jesus throughout his ministry. Help me rely less on myself and live more simply for you as a disciple of your Son. Give me understanding to see the limited value of human wisdom and open my eyes to the revelation that you are the limitless source of all truth. In Jesus is the truth, and the person of Christ is truth itself. As the disciples were blessed in seeing Jesus in person, Jesus blesses me with his real presence in the Eucharist and in the Blessed Sacrament. In childlike faith, give me the grace to recognize the gift given by you and the humility to understand the words of Jesus: “All things have been handed over to me by my Father.”

From the responsorial psalm: “He shall rescue the poor when he cries out, and the afflicted when he has no one to help him. He shall have pity for the lowly and the poor; the lives of the poor he shall save. Justice shall flourish in his time, and fullness of peace for ever.” Spirit of the Lord, rest upon me.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Wednesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 11:25-27)

At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives praise to the Father. The spontaneity of his thanksgiving expresses the joy Jesus feels in seeing that what the Father withholds from the wise and the learned what he reveals to the childlike. In acknowledging his Father’s will, Jesus reveals the unique and intimate relationship between himself and the Father. He says that he alone fully knows the Father, and the Father has entrusted all things to him. The Son, in turn, has the authority to reveal the Father to whomever he chooses. To remain childlike in faith is to be open to receiving what Jesus reveals.

God, help me today to exercise childlike faith in your will. The way of assuming I am wise and learned obscures what Jesus has to reveal to me. Give me the grace to stay open to you and supple in recognizing your word and receiving it. By Jesus’ action of opening the way to a relationship with you, I have the means to remain childlike in coming to you and trusting you with all of my needs. Help me also let go of worry that is useless and keeps me from experiencing childlike joy in the gift of this day.

Thank you, Lord, for revealing your presence today in the Eucharist. From the responsorial psalm: “Bless the LORD, O my soul; and all my being, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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