“The most sophisticated people I know - inside they are all children. ”

"To be pure, to remain pure, can only come at a price, the price of knowing God and loving him enough to do his will. He will always give us the strength we need to keep purity as something as beautiful for him." - Blessed Mother Teresa

Gospel Text: (MT 18:1-5, 10, 12-14)
The disciples approached Jesus and said,
“Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?”
He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever becomes humble like this child
is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.
And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,
for I say to you that their angels in heaven
always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”

Oh, how difficult it is to read this gospel today, in the aftermath of the sexual abuse scandals in the Church in the U.S., in light of the data that says 80% or more of child sexual abuse happens in families, reeling from the kidnapping stories in our headlines, shocked by daily images of innocent children blown up in senseless violence.

He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said,

"Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven."

With so many painful reminders of how vulnerable innocent children are, it is no wonder that we resist being like little children. What was Jesus getting at? Why does he want us to become like children? What is there in "humility" that places this kind of disciple of Jesus in the highest place in the Kingdom of heaven?

It is a journey to return to innocence, to return to a sense of awe and wonder. It is a struggle for us to trust and surrender our defenses. We've become "street smart." I can remember the first time I heard the phrase on the playground, "Nice guys finish last." We have been wounded by times in the past that we trusted and were hurt. We have become more critical readers of our world, are often skillful diagnosticians of what is wrong with others.

How do we "turn and become like children"? First of all, I think we see how far we have strayed from innocence and vulnerability. I think Jesus' invitation is a wonderful grace to stir our desire for a freer spirit. What about our fears? It really is "dangerous" to be more child-like. As we see so dramatically, children can be taken advantage of. Jesus is inviting us to place our lives in the reign of God. He is inviting us to rely on God and to experience the humble dependence that we find in that place.

And what can we do to make it more possible for one another to experience this type of spiritual depth? "And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me." We can receive one another, in our poverty, simplicity, transparency. It will be easier for us all, and we will be receiving our hearts' deepest desire.