WEDNESDAY OF THE FIFTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME JULY 13, 2022

MASS READINGS

A reading from the holy Gospel according to MT 11:25-27

At that time Jesus exclaimed: “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

REFLECTION

"You have revealed them to the childlike."

We are all children of God. So what does it mean to be childlike? The Oxford dictionary definition is innocent, simple, guileless, unworthy, naïve, trusting, gullible and down to earth.

St Therese of the Child Jesus is a great example of being childlike yet none of the above definitions come close to her childlike disposition to God. The characteristics she possessed were confident trust and knowing, experiencing and living in God's love.

"If you don't become like children, you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." This teaching is mentioned later on in Matthew 18:3. The core of our relationship with God is simply that--we have to become children of God, not just in the phrase or the concept or the name, but actually living it out.

Her little way of spiritual childhood is carried out in the day to day life experiences of her love of God and His love for her. We can read all sorts of books or have the gift of speaking, writing, organizing and doing but if we do not have love, we are unacceptable to God. "This love is the surrender of the little child who sleeps without fear in its Father's arms." *

I can't think of a time in a day when I don't cry out to God for help. A cry for myself when my weaknesses and faults are above the fold of my life, when I am arid and no consolations can be found. According to St Therese, Jesus reserves his saving mission for the lost, the sick and the forsaken. And that would be all of us.

As a little child believes they can do anything; fall, cry and run to their father and then take off again, our lives should be just like that. Live our lives the way He wants, know God as He has revealed Himself, and speak to Him in His language which is love.

Do not hesitate to call Him, "Papa". He is waiting for us.

God Bless You

* St Therese of Lisieux, Her last Conversations, Kindle