Memorial of the Guardian Angels
Independence. Autonomy. Self-sufficiency. Each of these are valued by our society today, and not without reason. Understood properly, each of these can be positive qualities in a person.
But Jesus’s words in today’s Gospel fly in the face of these contemporary values: Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Children depend on their parents for protection; they must abide by their parents’ authority; they are reliant on others for their basic needs. And Jesus demands that we be like them.
Of course, Jesus himself shows us how we are to be like children. As the eternal Son of the Father, he holds his very being as a gift; as the obedient Son, he pursues the Father’s will to the end, even to the Cross; he follows the Spirit’s lead at all times. As his disciples, we are to live in the same way as this Divine Child, looking to God at all times with gratitude for our being, our adoption as God’s children, and our mission in Christ.
Today, let us renew our disposition to live as children of the Father in Christ through the Holy Spirit, receiving all things from God and seeking to serve with joy and gratitude.