Saturday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
I have the privilege of living close to my children and being involved in helping care for my grandchildren. In today’s gospel, people are bringing children to Jesus. As parents, grandparents, teachers, aunts, uncles, pastors, and friends, we are called to bring our children to God and to nurture their faith. The more challenging part of our mission is placing these precious gifts in God’s loving embrace and allowing them to develop a journey of faith meant for them.
In the gospel reading, Jesus is laying hands on children and blessing them. Although the disciples protest, Jesus explains that the “kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Jesus is explaining to the crowd that children have value and importance, and in many ways their simplicity and trust are great attributes to be a part of His kingdom. During Jesus’ time, children were seen as being insignificant. As in many other gospel stories, Jesus lifts up the lowly and those who have no power and wealth. Jesus is also recognizing those parents and adults who are bringing these children to encounter Jesus. Through their action of bringing their children to Him, these people are providing a witness to others of their faith in the power and love of Jesus.
In the first reading, Ezekiel speaks to the Israelites and reminds them each individual is important to God. Ezekiel continues to share God’s truth that each person is responsible for the good and bad that they do in their lives. This teaching is clarified when Ezekiel tells the Israelites that a parent is not responsible for the good or evil deeds of their children. Blessings or curses are not passed down from one generation to the next, but God is calling each person to choose life abundantly through living God’s commands.
These readings remind me of the importance of sharing our faith with the next generation. Through our good actions and words, we are called to be witnesses to those around us- including and maybe even particularly our youth. There are many influences in our society that are drawing attention away from God. Material possessions, social status, rugged individualism are a few aspects of our world that encourage us to deny the importance of God’s love and presence in our lives. Bringing our children to celebrate in the life of the church is important, but these young people must also see Christ in us as we live as His disciples.
In our daily lives we are called to be witnesses to our children and youth, but as they grow, we must also realize that their faith journey is their own. This can be a difficult thing to accept if the young people choose beliefs that are different from those we have shared. A difficult but important part of being a guardian or parent is supporting young people as they become who God calls them to be. This requires us to trust that God is always present and loving. Even though we may not be able to physically bring these youth to Jesus, we can and always should continue to bring these young people to God in prayer. We can bring Christ to them through our words and actions even as we respect their individual journey. We have faith that God wants abundant life for each person- our role is to be and do what God desires of us, and leave the rest to God.
Loving God, Jesus reminds us that you welcome all people. With the grace of Your Spirit, help us to be childlike in our trust in You. May our lives share Your love to both young and old, and may our thoughts, words and deeds help build Your kingdom. We pray this in Christ’s name. AMEN
-Marylynn Herchline