In today’s gospel, the disciples are portrayed in their full humanity. Jesus lays out his mission on this earth and they fail to understand. They grow scared and instead, decide to argue about which one among them is the greatest.
I daresay, we are not very different.
So often, it is difficult to understand God’s will in our lives. Fear and avoidance are typical responses, especially when his will seems to lead us through a difficult path. Finding a sense of security in our own power, our own “greatness” is also a common response.
Jesus asks us to let go. To serve him and to serve one another as we might serve a child. Not by flexing our power, not by living in fear or avoidance, but by living in love and in hope, two virtues that children certainly elicit.
As Pope Francis puts it in his book, On Hope, “When we are before a child, although we have many problems and difficulties, a smile comes to us from within, because we see hope in front of us: a child is hope.” May we be with God and with neighbor as we are with a child, hope-filled and loving.