Scripture:
Sirach 2:1-11
Mark 9:30-37
Reflection:
God’s Love for little Ones.
"And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them; and taking him in his arms…" Mark 9:36
Two times Jesus is said to take someone in his arms in the Gospels. Both of them were with little children. We must become like children to feel this embrace of Jesus. Children have not lived long enough to have accomplished anything. We have a tendency to think that God has to be impressed with our accomplishments before He can love us. We forget a mother or father is head over heals in love with their babies.
od primarily loves us because we are his babies. Little children do little for their parents except to demand total attention and service. Still they have the total love of their father and mother. And so it is with God and us. We are his children. He desires our obedience and being conformed to the image of His Son. But always at the heart of his affection for us is that we are his children.
This is the basis of his love for us. At Baptism we were made his children in a very special way. George Burns and Gracie Allen wanted to adopt a child. They were shown a room full of healthy, beautiful babies. They had their choice of any one they wanted. One of the babies was terribly ill and for three months they were not sure if it would live or die. George Burns when he first saw it said it was the ugliest baby he had ever seen. He said it looked like Winston Churchill.
Long after Gracie’s death, George said Gracie picked their son Ronnie rather than the other healthy babies in the room because he was the one that needed her the most. Maybe, at the heart of God’s love for us, is our terrible condition. Humility draws God’s love to us, whereas our pride and arrogance repeals God. "He took the children in his arms, and blessed them, laying his hands upon them." Mark 10:16
Fr. Bob Weiss, C.P. preaches Parish Missions and is a member of the Passionist Community in Detroit, Michigan.