The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 11: 25-26

We discover an important secret in today’s gospel passage. It’s not one that we’d normally expect because who would dare to claim that the adult should learn from the child rather than the other way around. But, that’s what Jesus is telling us. He wants us to keep it simple; as simple and as pure as an innocent child could grasp.

Jesus was not recognized by most of those who would have likely been prepared for Him. The Pharisees, the Scribes, the experts in the law, his own townsfolk and kinsfolk, did not recognize Him. Those who thought they knew Him, knew too little to appreciate the truth that Jesus brought. His message and His lifestyle appeared too simple that only “the merest children” could believe it.

Today’s gospel is not very comforting for the know-alls among us. It indicates clearly that no one, no matter his or her erudition and background, should presume that he or she has it all together. It reminds us that knowing our faith requires humility and openness. The truth will set us free, but to possess that truth we need to be open-minded like a child and willing to shed prejudice in order to enter into the Lord’s kingdom. The poet, William Wordsworth, remarked that the “child is father of the man” because he too believed that the spirit of the child, free from the weight of prejudice and custom, could liberate the adult to see into the heart of things. Have you ever wondered about the things children say? Mark Twain wrote that “the most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop.” Children are not given to phoniness or affectation, and that’s why we love them. They are who they are because they breathe the innocence and wonder of their Creator.

Jesus is telling us today that no matter how much we’d like to, we cannot be our own saviors. We need forgiveness and the faith of a child to appreciate His message.

Our faith is meant to be a support, not a burden; an advantage, not an affliction. It is a support and an advantage only when you realize that you are a child of God and live on His mercy, not on merit.
“No one knows the Father but the Son–and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”

Recognizing this miracle of God’s love and mercy is the beginning of wisdom, the kind of wisdom that requires the openness of a child to appreciate it.

Jesus declared: “unless you become as a little child, you will not enter my kingdom.” Only the child possesses the vision and innocence to appreciate the gospel. The Lord asks His followers to possess the spirit of the child; the free and uncluttered spirit that is necessary to enter His kingdom.

Fr. Hugh Duffy