The disciples approached Jesus and said, "Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?" He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, "Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me."See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost."
REFLECTION
"Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me."
The innocence of children is a precious gift of God, Our Father.
I remember taking my 96-year-old mother to church, and a little girl between 3-5 years of age sat in the pew in front of us. When she saw my mother, she couldn't stop looking at her. At one point, she was staring up into Mother's face. Then finally, she stood up on the pew and took her little hands and tried to straighten out the wrinkles on my mother's face. As hard as she tried, she could not straighten out her wrinkles. My mother just smiled at her, and with a sigh, she shrugged her little shoulders, then smiled back.Jesus says that we must become like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. I think that what Jesus sees in children is their love and trust in others. Their hearts are open and accepting of those around them. Their dependence shows their humility.
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