27th Sunday Ordinary Time
Fr. Mark Gatto
Preached: October 6, 2024
Who would be a good model for your children? Who would be a good model for yourself? The model that Jesus offers for us is a little child. Not some rich, wealthy successful person. Not some famous important figure. Not some powerful authority. A little child. Jesus says, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
In his society a little child had no standing or status, was in a sense a nobody. Whoever wants to follow the way of Jesus, to take the path to the Kingdom of God, will need to become humble and small as a little child.
For the way to the kingdom of God is not something we earn or achieve through being perfect or wonderful. Actually it is by letting go that we enter the kingdom of God. All of our life is about learning to let go. Let go of the need for power, let go of the need to be successful, let go of the need for wealth, let go of the need to win. Jesus is the great model of one who embraced this path of becoming small.
As the Letter to the Hebrews said in our second reading, Jesus, “for a little while was made lower than the Angels.” God let go of all power, all authority, surrendering all out of love. This becoming small, this letting go in love is seen so clearly on the cross.
One practical impact of being like a child has an influence on our prayer life. Children love to play. Playing and praying are much alike. A child does not play because it is useful, a child does not play to be successful or to earn anything in this life. A child simply plays. In the same way, we do not pray because it is useful. We do not need to worry if our prayer is good. Just pray as if you are playing. See praying as wasting time! Like a child who is just playing without worrying about wasting time.
In prayer we simply let go of all our need to gain something, to win something, to earn something. Prayer is to let go into God, preparing already for our death when we let go of everything to go into God. When you pray, just enjoy wasting time like a child who is wasting time playing.
Last week on October 1 we celebrated the Feast of St. Therese of Lisieux. She was known for promoting her “little way.” Not about perfectionism, not about being famous, nor about being well known. Not about doing great things. Not worried about how we appear to others. Sometimes we act as though we are concerned about being good, when really we are more concerned about how we appear to others.
The “little way” of St. Therese reflects the call of Jesus that we become like a little child. She would say, “It is sufficient to recognize one’s nothingness and to abandon oneself as a child into God’s arms.” St. Therese understood well what Jesus was teaching us by presenting a little child as our model.
In the first reading today we hear that account from the Book of Genesis about the creation of man and woman. We hear how the man is called to cling to his wife and the two become one flesh. It is about God’s plan for creation where we human beings are meant to live in community, we are social beings. Jesus confirms this vision of marriage as a faithful and lifelong commitment.
A child is also a good model for what is needed if we are to live in community in a harmonious way. In marriage you cannot be concerned with who is in charge, who has power over the other, who is winning. In fact, you need to be ready to let go for the sake of your spouse at times.
This being with others as a child is crucial in all human relationships. Imagine the difference in the war in Ukraine, or the violence in the middle east, or the war in Sudan, and so many other places. What if there were leaders who were ready to let go of the need to show they are powerful, that they are stronger. If they let go of a win, lose mentality that is only about destroying the other. This mentality damages marriages and families, it damages relationships between nations and peoples.
Jesus presents to us a little child as the model for our lives. The image of the little child teaches us to pray as though we are playing. Be glad to joyfully waste time praying. The image of the little child teaches us to embrace a little way in which we let go of the need to be superior to others or to compare ourselves to others or to be overly concerned with about how we appear to others. Jesus offers us the little child as a model for it will lead us to live together with others in a way of harmony.
Receive the kingdom of God like a little child. You will know that you are following that path when you are able to be joyful, to laugh, to play.
