Gospel: Matthew
18:1-5, 10
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 humbles himself 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.”
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Reflection:
Try
looking at the face of a child, try also looking at the face of an adult. Which
of them give you more joy? Of course it’s the face of the child.
Jesus in
the gospel gives us the secret on how we can enter the kingdom of heaven. No
other than to become like children or to be childlike, why? It’s for the reason
of the pureness of their thoughts and the absence of sin. No wonder being childlike is the key for us
to enter God’s kingdom in heaven.
But are
we childlike in terms of the pureness of our thoughts and absence of sin? Of
course we are not! Who among us could say that our thoughts are as pure as a
child? Who among us could say that we
are without sin? Of course nobody because we are all sinners we sin through our
words, actions and thoughts.
Nevertheless,
it’s not yet late for us to go back to Jesus and be childlike before Him. Jesus
through the Sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession is always inviting us to
humble ourselves before Him. To be like a child who humbly runs to his parents
with reckless abandon once he sees them coming home.
It takes
childlike humility for you to go to Confession, are you humble like a child? –
Marino J. Dasmarinas