Like Little Children

Homily for Tuesday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time

The Gospel text today loses some of its power because of our different cultural background. In the Middle East, particularly along the Mediterranean Crescent, children did not enjoy the security and care of their parents as they may very well do today. In a society where the mortality rate of children was more than 50%, parents did not invest anything in their care until they reached the brink of adulthood. For instance, in a time of famine, the elderly would be fed before the children.

Consequently, when Jesus chooses to place a child in their midst and admonishes his disciples to be like little children, he is speaking of the humble circumstances in which children live until they reached the age of puberty. That kind of humility would be totally foreign to the men that Jesus had chosen to be his disciples and, ultimately, his apostles. The humility he calls for is not one of ignorance or innocence but the humility of trust and dependence upon God.

Jesus teaches this lesson in response to the question that he is asked by his disciples. “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” They are obviously asking how they would rank once Jesus reveals that he is the long-awaited Messiah. It is their fond hope that they will be deemed important and will be given substantial roles in the kingdom that Jesus establishes.

He then turns his attention to the work of a shepherd to protect his flock. To our modern way of thinking, leaving the majority of the flock to seek one stray seems ridiculous. However, Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Each of us is important to him, and he does not want to see us lose our way.

His last instruction to Peter was to “Feed my sheep.” That is, in fact, why we are here, gathered around this altar awaiting our participation in this holy banquet.