How God views us
As a human father to his sired children
By Tim Trainor
The "childlike" attitude Jesus encourages is not about naivety or childishness, but about a complete dependence on God. A willingness to trust and receive love without conditions, and a genuine openness to learning and being guided. Thus, Mark teaches how children model the correct attitude for belonging to the Kingdom of God.
Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Sirach 17:1-15
Mark 10:13-16
Each of us is viewed from several angles in today’s three readings. Sirach makes a series of grand, Genesis-like, very sweeping statements, about man, and includes all the animals and nations on the earth, seen from God's viewpoint. Next, our Psalm covers some of the same ground but focuses more sharply on how God views the man He has created and how He has chosen to relate to him. The Psalmist uses images found in the human family to tell us how He relates to us: that of a Father to his children. Not as an artist to his created artworks or a scientist to his grand experiment, but as a human father to his sired children.
We are not too surprised when, in our next reading, Mark presents Jesus teaching His Disciples a valuable lesson about how He views children and His desire to allow them full access to Him.
Let us now look into the details of our three readings beginning with Sirach. He is telling us that even if our material substance is earthly (dust), our shape, form, and way of acting and thinking, we should image the Divine. Sirach reaches into the details of our bodily existence: He, God, forms the human tongues, eyes, and ears and imparts an understanding heart to them. Thus, each of us possesses instruments by which we can communicate our desires and impressions of the heart. It is in our ways of interacting with one another that we manifest, most perfectly, the Divinely imparted wisdom and knowledge of the spirit, that Sirach speaks of.
As mentioned earlier, Psalm 103 uses images found in the human family to tell us how God relates to us. I especially liked, “As a father has compassion on his children ...” The word picture “children's children” is presented in this reading.
Our gospel (Mark 10:13-16) highlights the little ones or children within the human family today. About them Jesus makes a statement to inscribe in our memory: “It is to just such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.” The parents who brought their children to Jesus were, I believe, like those who bring their children for baptism in our present day. The contrast between the disciples’ gruffness and how Jesus responded to this request is striking.
The disciples wanted to turn them away, as a nuisance and a distraction, whereas Jesus lets the children come to him and wants his Church to do likewise. We must do what we can to bring children into a relationship with Jesus. Along with teaching the children, we too have much to learn from them. We have to learn to welcome the kingdom of God as children do. Children are very receptive to good things, to gifts, including the gift of the kingdom of God and the gift of the Lord Himself. They are open to these gifts, plus, very receptive of them. As we grow older, we can quickly lose receptiveness and openness to the Lord and His gifts. As adults, we have to keep on recovering it. We must keep re-learning to become like children and welcome the Lord’s gifts as openly as the children in Mark we read about today.
Mark shows Jesus teaches that He (and we should) welcomes children with open arms. To enter the Kingdom of God, one must approach with the humility, trust, and simplicity of a child, letting go of pride and self-importance to embrace God's grace and love fully. Essentially, children represent the ideal state of receptivity to God's love, which all Christians are called to emulate; therefore, they should always be welcomed! Jesus' strong reaction to the disciples' actions shows us how deeply he values children and desires for all to come to him without barriers as it says in CCC 1261.
The "childlike" attitude Jesus encourages is not about naivety or childishness, but about a complete dependence on God. A willingness to trust and receive love without conditions, and a genuine openness to learning and being guided. Thus, Mark teaches how children model the correct attitude for belonging to the Kingdom of God. CCC 699 also cites our reading in Mark as an example of imparting the Holy Spirit by laying on hands when Jesus “embraced the children and blessed them, placing His hands on them.”
In His name, the apostles will do the same as Jesus will teach them that it is by the imposition of His and their hands that the Holy Spirit is given. The Letter to the Hebrews lists the imposition of hands among the "fundamental elements" of the Apostles’ teaching. Even more pointedly, the Church has kept this sign of the invocation of the all-powerful outpouring of the Holy Spirit in all of its sacramental ceremonies. Think of how it appears in: Baptism, Marriage and the Eucharist.
On several occasions, Jesus insists on the welcome due to little ones, to children. “Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in My name, welcomes Me” (Mark 9:37). “If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then I tell you solemnly, he will most certainly not lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42). He asked that no one despise the little ones (Matthew 18:10). At the last judgment the just will be welcomed for having given food “to one of the least of these brothers of Mine” (Matthew 25:40).
In the Gospels, the expression “little ones” sometimes means “children,” while other times, it means those excluded from society. It is not always easy to differentiate. But, in today's Gospel that isn't the case. Jesus is clearly talking about children in Mark 10.
First, Jesus wants us to welcome and to touch. The parents with their children in their arms drew near Jesus to ask for a blessing. The apostles told them to go elsewhere. Jesus disagrees. He corrects the disciples and welcomes the parents and their children. He touches them and embraces them. “Let the little children alone and let them come to Me; do not stop them!” (Mark 10:13-16; Matthew 19:13-15).
Next, Jesus identifies Himself with the little ones. In Mark chapter 9 Jesus says “Whoever welcomes a child, “welcomes Me.” In so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40).
We are to become a child (or childlike) once more. Jesus asks that the disciples become children again and accept the kingdom like a child. Failing that, He said it is impossible to enter the Kingdom of God (See: Mark 10:15, Matt 18:3 & Luke 9:46-48).
By His actions, Jesus tells us: Let the child be the teacher and we adults the students. To us, this is not the norm. To our loss, we are used to doing the opposite and miss out on a very valuable humility lesson that will be our Final Exam to get into Heaven! Jesus clued us in most strongly and directly on that fact in Matthew 18 verse 3, when He said: “Amen, (or in military terms: Listen-Up guys, this is important) I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
In all three of our Readings, I hear parental-type advice being given. I connect to the opening two words in 'The Lord’s Prayer.’
The 'Our Father Prayer' is the “summary of the whole Gospel” (per Tertullian), and “the perfect prayer” (per Saint Thomas Aquinas). Found in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). In the form of prayer, it presents to us the essential content of the Gospel. In the Catechism, para. 2759-2865, addresses the whole prayer in line-by-line detail and makes for good reading.
Did you ever wonder “Why can we confidently draw near to God, plus dare address Him as “Our Father?” The answer in paragraphs 1 and 2759-2865 of the Catechism tells us. “In His Son and through Him, He (God the Father) invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, His adopted children and thus heirs of His blessed life.” The rest of the above reference, lays out that, Jesus, our Redeemer, God's Only Begotten Son (per John 3:16, Hebrews 1:5 & The Nicene Creed), brings us into the Father’s presence and His Spirit makes us God's adopted children (per Ephesians 1:5, Romans 9:8 & Galatians 4:4-5).
In the first few words of the prayer, we are thrown into the deep end of the pool of Church teaching: “Our Father, who art in heaven”. If we dare to call God “our Father” (and we can, as Jesus tells us to), then we must be God's children. The Lord’s Prayer is built on these first two words, just as our whole Christian life is built on the foundation of our adoption as sons and daughters of God.
We need to be frequently reminded of the fact of this adoption. Christians say “Our Father” all the time, whether in the morning, at Mass, in a spare moment, in a Rosary, or preparing for bed. Jesus arranged this prayer so that even if we get distracted or sleepy after the first two words, we still recall the most fundamental part. By addressing God as “Abba” (as Jesus most likely taught in Hebrew) or “Our Father.”
The “Our Father & son mystery” is an ever-new sense of wonder and humble boldness, wakening in each of us the desire to act as His adopted children every time we say this prayer.
In pursuing a spiritual life, we get caught up worrying about what works we must do. Much more important than work is what we are called to be. “God’s beloved children” per 1 John 3:2. That should be the foundation of our lives as Christians, our new identity as adopted sons and daughters of the Father, by the grace of Jesus Christ, through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has plenty to teach about how and what we should love, and, all of it flows from trusting that we have been adopted into the Family of God as His Children.
As previously mentioned, the Catholic Catechism contains a very enlightening discussion on 'The Our Father Prayer' and makes for good independent reading. Consider checking it out. Type: CCC 2759 2865 into your favorite browser.
When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we need to be aware that we have been adopted into God's Family and can trust that we are being heard because of the Birth, Death & Resurrection of His only Son Jesus the Christ, who has secured this status for each of us to boldly call on God as: “Abba” or “Our Father.”