Children at the time of Christ were
considered to have the dignity that our secular culture gives the
unborn. We know that those in the womb deserve absolute respect as
human beings (which is why our city always takes part in the national
campaign, 40 Days for Life, twice a year, officially starting
Wednesday). But if you looked at the billboards in NYC or Chicago,
you would see a very different sense of in child in the womb: a sort
of take it or leave it. That small living person is important if you
choose it to be, but you can choose otherwise and that's fine. As
crazy as that sounds, this is exactly what is happening in our
culture today, and it was similar for young children in Jesus' day.
They literally had no rights: parents had free reign to do what they
pleased. So it is quite amazing that Jesus calls us to be like
children, but he meant something different. He was referring to some
of the best qualities of children. First, they have a brutal honesty
because we do not have any “adult sins” like careerism and public
persona. Second, children live from a knowledge that they are loved,
and that is all that matters. Being like a child means remembering
precisely that: our identity, our self-worth, comes from the fact
that we are loved into existence by God. It isn't from what we do,
but from who we are: God says “you matter to me” every single
moment you are breathing, and so you do.
However, every single one of us fails
at this from time to time; in fact, more often than not we are living
from our fallen human nature rather than our redeemed identity in
Christ Jesus. This is because of original sin. G.K. Chesterton
described this in a simple way: look at two babies playing together
with a few toys. Eventually it will end up with at least one
stealing & hitting, and at least one crying, sometimes it goes
both ways. This is what the apostles are doing today. We are
selfish and have to break that cycle to be true to who we are.
Power, prestige, authority, and popularity are all things we want.
Sometimes we want them so bad we will wish evil on others, like the
first two readings suggest today: “let us beset the just one...he
is obnoxious to us.” James reminds us: the wars and conflicts come
from our selfish and envious hearts. Who says the spiritual life is
a waste of time? If it has the power to stop 100 or even ten
household fights every year, it certainly is worth it. Let us ask
Christ to become like children.
One way that we can do this is a nice
prayer to grow in humility called Litany
of Humility. You can find the full prayer on my blog, but we
will finish the holy by offering this prayer today.
O
Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear
me.
From
the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver
me, Jesus.
From
the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled
...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of
being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to
others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the
desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated
...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of
suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From
the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed
...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being
suspected ...
That
others may be loved more than I,
Jesus,
grant me the grace to desire it.
That
others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the
world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others
may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I
unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in
everything...
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy as I should…
Amen.
