25th Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 19, 2015
4 PM Vigil Liturgy
J.A. Loftus, S.J.
Many preachers, I’m sure, will focus today on the mimetic
jealousy of the disciples that has them bickering among themselves
about who was the highest, the brightest, the holiest. There is lots
of good homily material here!
But I admit that I was distracted by the end-story, the bit
about the child and Jesus. Some version of the conclusion of
today’s gospel passage is included in all three synoptic gospels
(Luke 9: 46-48; Matthew 18: 1-5; and today’s gospel, Mark: 9: 4648). They all have to do with a child or children being held up as
being the ones who truly understand God’s reign.
Children were important to Jesus; they had something
important to teach the disciples and all adults. Hundreds of
paintings down through the centuries, from Rembrandt to Henry
Holiday, the famous stained glass window artist, have depicted
Jesus blessing or holding-up children. What do you suppose is the
“lesson” children teach best, according to Jesus?
Pope Francis was puzzled by the same question a few months
ago at one of his general audiences in the Vatican (March 18,
2015). This might have been the audience where there were many
children present. You may have seen the video when one little boy
came forward to greet the Pope, pulled on his pectoral cross and
then proceeded to sit with him on his chair. In fact he sat in the
Pope’s chair for the whole time Francis was speaking at the
podium. He did not want to get up even at the end.
Francis, as is his usual custom, went “off-script,” for a bit. He
said, pondering our question about what is it about children and
God (and I will quote him at some length):
“God has no difficulty in being understood by children and
children have no trouble in understanding God. It isn’t by chance
that in the gospels, Jesus speaks beautiful and strong words about
‘the little ones.’ This term indicates all persons who depend on the
help of others, particularly children. Children, therefore, are a
treasure for humanity and for the church because they constantly
remind us of the necessary condition for entering into the Kingdom
of God: that we must not consider ourselves self-sufficient, but
always in need of help, of love, of forgiveness.”
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Jesus may have used children so often in the gospel stories
precisely because: first, children rarely get so self-absorbed that
they forget how much they need help negotiating their new and
fascinating worlds. And second, when children do need help, they
can be terribly insistent about giving voice to their needs. They
just shout, or stamp their feet, or cry—usually loudly, and
sometimes even in church.
Contrast these crying children with the rather complete selfabsorption of today’s disciples arguing with each other about
whose “best.” They seem so self-sufficient. And self-sufficiency,
Jesus chides, is completely antithetical to God’s reign. How often
elsewhere does Jesus say to his disciples (and to us): ask and you
shall receive; knock—even pound—on the door, and it will be
opened; seek and you shall find.
There is a beautiful immediacy about a child’s insistence.
“It’s here and now and I want it,” they say. Their knowledge of
their own personal neediness is always front and center. We adult
disciples spend a great deal of time and psychic energy pretending
to anyone who will listen that we are not so needy. “I’d rather do it
myself!” is an all too often mantra for modern folk. “I’ll make
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myself holy!” And Jesus, once again, “places a little child in our
midst.” And Jesus needs to say nothing more.
St. Ignatius, on his journey through Manresa, makes much of
the same point in his Spiritual Exercises. Before each and every
prayer experience, Ignatius says persons should recognize what
they need and ask God each and every time for exactly what is their
deepest desire, their deepest want, and deepest need.
Maybe we all need to listen more often with children. Maybe
we need to learn something from them, as Jesus suggests. Most of
us still have a lot to learn about God’s Kingdom and God’s reign.
There is a beautiful song in Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Into
the Woods.” It’s called “Children will listen.” Maybe Jesus says to us
today, “But will you listen to the children?”
Can we learn just how much we, too, still hurt? We still need
help? We, too, still need love. We, too, still need forgiveness.
Those parts of us never really grow up. Peace!
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