“Firmly trusting and relaxing in the arms of our Caring and Loving Heavenly Father!”

(Based on Job 1:6-12 and Lk 9:46-50 – Monday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

A little boy once came to his Daddy, one night.

He confessed a mistake that he had done during the course of the day.

Then kneeling at Daddy’s feet, the child, with hands folded, prayed with tears:
“Dear God, make me a man – like Daddy – wise and strong.
I know You can!”

This innocent gesture touched the father very much.
He had a profound realisation of his deep limitations and the child’s high expectations

Then when the child had slept, the father knelt beside his bed.

Confessing his sins, and praying with a low-bowed head, made this prayer:
“O God, make me a child – like my sweet child here – pure, guileless, trusting in You with a faith sincere.
I know You can!”

We all grow up in life – physically, socially, psychologically etc…

But sometimes this “growing up” fails to preserve the “growth” that is already witnessed in little children – openness, sincerity, trust and spontaneity.

Can we dare, as adults, to “grow” into being a Child?

The Gospel of the Day is an elegant presentation by Jesus on the “necessary attitude” that is required for a valid entry into the Kingdom of Heaven: a child-like nature.

Jesus says, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.” (Lk 9: 47)

In the Gospel of Mathew, we read, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 18: 3)

One of the grave dangers in the process of “growing- up” is the tendency to lose our “natural child-like” traits.

A child is someone who is born with many inherent qualities.

But in the process of “becoming an adult,” we abandon many of those.

This ‘abandonment’ could be because…
… of the upbringing in the society or the culture we live
… or the various experiences that we go through as we grow up

As a child, we would be free to express our emotions
… but as we grow up, we tend to hold them up all within (only to burst out one day!)

As a child, we would trust and depend easily on those who care for us
.. but as we grow up, we become fearful or disbelieving towards those same persons

As a child, we would be eased to live in the present moment, enjoying and relaxing
… but as we grow up, we fall into the trap of the past and cringed with the fear of the future.

The Lord invites us to have a “renewal of our minds” and to retrieve back the ‘lost’ child-like faith and trust.

It takes courage and dare to make efforts to let go of our “matured egoistic” tendencies in order to depend more on our Heavenly Father.

The process usually is encountered by resistance…

Why should I depend on someone…
… I am mature enough to think for myself

Why should I become humble…
… I have my own desires to be satisfied to

These could be some of the thought-patterns that one stumbles into, in giving heed to the call of the Lord to “be like a child”.

Our Lord Himself is the greatest model and example in learning to have a “child-like” faith…

St Paul tells in his letter to the Philippians, ” … though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God, a thing to be grasped.
Rather, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2: 6-8)

A child-like faith also prompts to place one’s trust totally in the Lord, knowing that He is the Source and End of all…
… as beautifully displayed by Job, during his great ordeal, when he exclaimed: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return;
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)

May we be privileged to be graced with the gift of being “like children”…
… and thus be able to firmly trust and relax in the arms of our Caring and Loving Heavenly Father
… and live a life of humility and trust!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
THE EUCHARIST IN THE ECONOMY OF SALVATION – The sacrificial memorial of Christ and of his Body, the Church

The whole Church is united with the offering and intercession of Christ.
Since he has the ministry of Peter in the Church, the Pope is associated with every celebration of the Eucharist, wherein he is named as the sign and servant of the unity of the universal Church.
The bishop of the place is always responsible for the Eucharist, even when a priest presides…
… the bishop’s name is mentioned to signify his presidency over the particular Church, in the midst of his presbyterium and with the assistance of deacons.
The community intercedes also for all ministers who, for it and with it, offer the Eucharistic sacrifice:
“Let only that Eucharist be regarded as legitimate, which is celebrated under [the presidency of] the bishop or him to whom he has entrusted it.”
Through the ministry of priests, the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful is completed in union with the sacrifice of Christ the only Mediator…
… which in the Eucharist is offered through the priests’ hands in the name of the whole Church

… in an unbloody and sacramental manner until the Lord himself comes. (CCC #1369)