Saturday in the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time at Mississippi Abbey
Scripture Readings: Ez 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32; Mt 19:13-15
I have mentioned before of a video on social media that portrayed two babies in high chairs (perhaps twins). One was repeatedly slapping the other. He wasn’t angry; it was clearly recreational slapping. The other didn’t seem to mind until at one point he reached over and slapped back. The originator began crying, apparently having no idea what brought that on. Both may have learned a lesson that day.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Really? Now, before you turn to the sister next to you and start slapping your way to the kingdom, let’s look at this a little deeper.
It is in accord with our human nature to acquire knowledge, not to be born with it. Children acquire knowledge readily as a result of advancing in age and experience. Experience means they notice things; they pay attention to some things and not others. This leads to wide-eyed wonder and openness to the new. They trust because they know they are dependent and they find the one they are dependent upon to be trustworthy.
That determination of dependence and trustworthiness has meaning and meaning constitutes one’s world. That means one has judged something to be of great value, to be important. All else is measured against it. It orients our lives.
It is in learning value that children become our models for approaching the kingdom of heaven. It is in their decision to set their hearts on what is of unsurpassable value, rather than of passing value, that they set the pattern for a relationship with Christ.
Sometimes, what is found to be of “unsurpassable value” (as St. Paul puts it) is found later in life, after placing high value on temporal things. I urge you to reflect on his phrase, “I have considered all else as loss…because of the surpassing value of knowing Him (Jesus Christ)…” (Phil 3:7-8).
When one has discovered a “pearl of great price” one invests in a relationship with it. Anything that detracts from that relationship is called into question.
The relationship Jesus is leading us to today is with His God and Father. The one who pays attention to Him in the throe of wonder, who finds Him trustworthy and depends upon Him, who sets her heart on this as what matters most… to such a one belongs the kingdom of heaven.
Saturday in the Nineteenth Week of Ordinary Time at Mississippi Abbey
Scripture Readings: Ez 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32; Mt 19:13-15
When we devote our Saturday Eucharist to our Blessed Mother, and read this gospel, we can’t help but think about children. I was told recently of a video on social media that portrayed two babies in high chairs (perhaps twins). One was repeatedly slapping the other. He wasn’t angry; it was clearly recreational slapping. The other didn’t seem to mind until at one point he reached over and slapped back. The originator began crying, apparently having no idea what brought that on. Both may have learned a lesson that day.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Really? Now, before you turn to the sister next to you and start slapping your way to the kingdom, let’s look at this a little deeper.
It is in accord with our human nature to acquire knowledge, not to be born with it. Children acquire knowledge readily as a result of advancing in age and experience. Experience means they notice things; they pay attention to some things and not others. This leads to wide-eyed wonder and openness to the new. They trust because they know they are dependent and they find the one they are dependent upon to be trustworthy.
That determination of dependence and trustworthiness has meaning and meaning constitutes one’s world. That means one has judged something to be of great value, to be important. All else is measured against it. It orients our lives.
It is in learning value that children become our models for approaching the kingdom of heaven. It is in their decision to set their hearts on what is enduring, rather than passing, that they set the pattern for a relationship with Christ.
When one has discovered a “pearl of great price” one invests in a relationship with it. Anything that detracts from that relationship is called into question.
The relationship Jesus is leading us to today is with His God and Father. The one who pays attention to Him in the throe of wonder, who finds Him trustworthy and depends upon Him, who sets her heart on this as what matters most…to such a one belongs the kingdom of heaven.