Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Tomorrow is my birthday. Every year, I think back to previous birthdays and marvel at where the years have gone. One way I mark my early birthdays is with the great gifts my family gave me. There is one gift that stands out. When I turned five, my parents bought me a beautiful, bright red scooter. I’ll never forget how I felt the moment I pulled back the shower curtain to find it sitting in the bathtub (this was the favorite hiding place for gifts in our family). The bright red paint is burned into my mind; the scooter was so simple but it represented so many things to me: fun, a bit of independence and most importantly, my parents’ desire to see me so happy. I knew, even at that young age, that they looked out for me, and more than that, they loved me enough to give me a thing beauty and freedom.
Today’s gospel has Jesus drawing us back into our childhoods. “Unless you turn and become like children,” our Lord warms, “you will not enter the Kingdom of God.” Most of us have spent quite a bit of time and energy not being childlike. We earn degrees, work for promotions, raise families and plan for retirement. With all of this activity, today’s reading can be somewhat of a puzzle.
As I reflect on that fifth birthday and that brilliant red scooter, I suggest that being childlike is about being open to the gifts of freedom and beauty. The grace that is freely offered by God is like my parents’ gift to me on a cosmic scale. When I was given my scooter, I didn’t question their intentions; I didn’t think about how I might pay them back; I didn’t wonder what would be required of me. As adults, we no longer know how to freely receive gifts. Perhaps Christ is calling us for the openness of children in precisely this way: let us humbly free ourselves and open ourselves to the beauty and freedom of grace.
- Katherine Schmidt