Gospel 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.”
Reflection:
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children.”
Some of the characteristics of a child are trust, imagination, transparency, spontaneity, joyfulness, and humility. We come into this world with these childlike qualities, which are truly what it means to be made in the image of God.
I think of my grandson.
When he was 4, I would say, “Are you ready? Let’s go for a ride.”
Without hesitation, he would take my hand and off we’d go, no questions asked.
However, as we age, these beautiful qualities can diminish.
Now as a teenager, when I text to ask if he’d like to get together, back comes a text, “GP, (Grandpa) what are we going to be doing?”
What happened to the spontaneity, trust and carefree attitude? Well, the reality is that the challenges, enticements and busyness of life can rob us of our childlike nature.
But, it doesn’t have to remain that way.
My eighty year old sister has had more than her share of suffering in life, contending with divorce, alcoholism, the loss of a grandchild, and finally, the loss of her home.
Rather than becoming embittered by her difficulties and losses, my sister developed an “attitude of gratitude,” a spirit of forgiveness. She learned to accentuate the positive and minimize the negative in her life.
As gold is purified in a furnace, her life troubles are the fire that refined and remade her back into the image of God who created her.
In her golden years, she has recaptured her childlike qualities and is truly a joy to be around.
“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children,
you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.”
I pray that while there is still time, I may “turn” and recapture those childlike qualities that God endowed me with at birth. Oh, that I may again become like a little child in my trust, transparency, joyfulness, and humility.

Jesus said, “In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.” Matthew 18:14