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Gospel: Mark 9:30-37
Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent.
They had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Recently, I was standing outside of church after Mass, chatting with a few parishioners. When I turned around, I noticed a mother with her young daughter standing there, waiting to talk with me.
The child might’ve been three or four years old. She had a half-eaten cupcake resting on a paper plate with streaks of chocolate icing smeared across her cheeks.
“She’s been waiting all morning to ask you a question,” the mother said.
So, I knelt down to speak with her child eye-to-eye. The she asked:
“What color is God?”
Stunned, I paused and asked myself, “What color is God?” … “Well,” I said, “God made everything, so God must be every color of the rainbow.”
Her eyes filled with wonder, leading her to another question: “Then who made God?”
***
Children are naturally curious, often asking the most literal questions imaginable, such as, “What color is God?”
They’re not embarrassed by their ignorance, nor do they bear a strong sense of social custom; they’ll ask, interrupt, cry, pout, and shout, persisting until they get an answer.
Jesus blesses their approach to the world. “Unless you change and become like children,” he says, “you cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
You must ask, question, seek, wonder, engage the imagination.
This child-like curiosity stands in stark contrast to the disciples in today’s Gospel, who seem far more interested in themselves than in Jesus.
The Lord has just predicted his own Passion, death, and resurrection in the most literal language imaginable, which comes as shocking news to the disciples.
I imagine the Lord felt quite vulnerable, desiring to share more of his heart and destiny with his followers turned friends.
But they’re stone-cold silent, ignoring the pink elephant in the room, hoping this idea of a “cross” might magically disappear.
For now, the disciples are stuck in the web of power, politics, self-interest, and the physical world, evidenced by their next conversation.
When they do begin speaking again amongst themselves, they revert to what is familiar and desirable – the idea of greatness.
***
Don’t we all avoid things at times – people, places, crucial conversations – hoping they’ll just go away? We can also avoid uncomfortable ideas about our faith, such as bearing our own cross and following Jesus.
You might say, there are certain plateaus that we reach in our faith journey, when we stall; cease being curious; stop growing; or even lay down our cross of discipleship.
Perhaps one of the common, early plateaus can come after receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. It’s easy to conclude that we’ve learned enough about our faith, as if we’ve graduated from it.
Often, teens wear gowns during the ceremony, emphasizing their religious “accomplishment.”
In fact, two-thirds of teens in New Jersey stop attending Mass regularly after being confirmed…
Here at St. Pius X, we are working on developing a ministry of ongoing formation for adults so that our faith matures with us. As our minds, hearts, and life-experience expand, so should our child-like curiosity and commitment to Christ.
For, unless we “become like children,” Jesus says, “we cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
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There’s one other aspect of being a child that Jesus embraces.
Just as children are at the mercy of those who are older, stronger, and bigger than they are, so at the cross, Jesus becomes like a child again.
He is literally obedient to his Father; vulnerable; weak; putting himself physically at the mercy of those who seek to overpower him.
This scandalous nature of Calvary – the idea of God taking on flesh, bearing a cross, dying upon it, and rising again – requires the innocence of a child to believe in our heart of hearts, shaping our lives accordingly.
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Do I have that curious, childlike faith, which engages the imagination, asks questions, and seeks to understand?
Can I gaze upon Christ crucified, see the innocence of a child, and follow his example?
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Such ideas may be too profound for children to understand, like that four-year-old holding a half-eaten cupcake.
But she embodies qualities that every one of us as adults should strive to preserve within ourselves – innocence, curiosity, trust, and a willingness to believe.
For, “unless we become like children, we cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
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Image credits: (1) Living Theologically (2) Bored Panda (3) Aleteia
