Let the child, poor, meek, comforting, honest, merciful, pure, peaceful and joyful be your guide.

Tom Bartolomeo
31st Sunday Ordinary B 2012
Deuteronomy 4: 1-2,6-8; Psalm 15;
James 1: 17-18, 21b-22,27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15,21-23
Reproduced with Permission

"That is an order, soldier! I command you . . . ." Well, we know all the rest. We've seen it often enough in the movies. Orders and commands, commandments not to be taken lightly. Obey. I could sleep in on Sunday, the one day of the week I don't have to work, and here I am dragging myself out of bed to go to Sunday mass. (Well, I'll meet my obligation, at least.) But there is always that unsatisfying sense of compulsion in obedience - while all we have to do is 'give' gladly with all our heart, soul, mind and strength as Jesus said, and "it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together running over . . . . For the measure you give it will be given back to you", Luke 6,38.

God will take whatever you have to give, I suppose. Is it enough? I don't know. But what a shame and a lost opportunity not to love our obligations.

You know we all once loved what we were told when we were infants. Wide-eyed, nothing pleased us more than doing what mommy or daddy said, unintelligible as it may have been. "That's a good boy" or "that's a good girl". And we couldn't stand to be away from our mother for a moment. We would cry so plaintively when she left the room so she would return until we fell asleep. Our heart, soul, mind and strength was in it and so was hers. We innately knew that she was our creator in the flesh, had spent nine months next to us one heart beat away, and we took that relationship with us for a couple of years or more. Then our egos developed, our personalities, our minds and wills tainted by original sin which asserted themselves as toddlers, the "terrible twos." Now years later we don't like being told what to do including, sometimes, the Ten Commandments. I'm busy and have so many other things to do. Besides, my personal views of the Church's teachings and God's law have changed with the times.

It is no coincidence that on last Thursday's "Feast of All Saints" Jesus taught the people the Beatitudes and later met a rich young man, a perspective disciple who had asked Jesus "what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?" Jesus told him to "keep the commandments" which the young man professed he did, but when Jesus said "If you would be perfect" then "sell what you possess and give to the poor . . . and come, follow me". The man left Jesus, "sorrowful . . . for he had great possessions". He coveted his possessions too much, not understanding the meaning of the ninth and tenth commandments, "Thou shall not covet"; nor "Blessed of the poor in spirit" which Jesus had earlier preached to the masses, Matthew 19, 16-24. Was the rich young man among those who had heard his sermon on the Beatitudes?

Lord, how do we get back to that time of innocence we had as infants which God requires: "Unless you become like little children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven", Matthew 18, 3. This is not a contrived manner of speaking. Neither are the Eight Beatitudes, the "narrow gate" to heaven Jesus spoke of earlier (Matthew 7,16) and "the eye of needle" for a camel to go through" Jesus spoke of later referring to the rich young man's attachment to his "great possessions", Matthew 16, 22-24.

The first beatitude defines the blessings of a small child who owns nothing of any value in the world. His wealth is in the kingdom of heaven. The second beatitude defines the blessings of a small child who mourns for the affection of God in the world. He will be comforted in the kingdom of heaven. The third beatitude defines the blessings of a small child who has no power or control over others. He will inherit a new earth in the kingdom of heaven. The fourth beatitude defines the blessings of a small child who hungers and thirsts for his Father's approval. He will be satisfied in the kingdom of God. The fifth beatitude defines the blessings of a small child who readily forgives. He will be shown mercy in the kingdom of heaven. The sixth beatitude defines the blessings of a small child with a pure heart and wise beyond his years. He will see God clearly in the kingdom of heaven. The seventh beatitude defines the blessings of a small happy and peaceful child. He will be at home in the kingdom of God. The eighth beatitude defines the blessings of a small child suffering for the faith in this world. He will rejoice and be greatly rewarded in the kingdom of heaven.

All we have to do is carefully observe small children and learn again who we once were: innocent at first, sullied then by worldly interests and finally scandalized by the behavior of adults eroding away our simplicity and innocence. Then they, our children, became us.

The gift of children returns to every generation a child who is father to the man and mother to the woman - if we choose to be more like our children, unattached from soulless possessions, sympathetic to the needs of others, comforting, merciful, peaceful and courageous witnesses to the Faith. How revealing that God willed that human children grow so slowly, a dozen years to reach puberty and several more years to reach full physical maturity. How revealing, too, that we often take our entire lives to grow morally upright. How revealing our progress or lack of progress and growth in understanding and self-discipline. Each new generation of children opens a window to our development, the corrections we may make and the insights we may learn from our children.

"Fear the Lord, your God", warned Moses, "and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments which I enjoin on you, and thus have a long life." Jesus, our intercessor, before "Our Father" repeated Moses' message for our benefit: "The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart [ no compromising ], with all your soul [not just going through the motions], with all your mind [without rationalizations], and with all your strength [holding back nothing. Nothing ]. The test will be the second commandment: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [Period].

Summary: All we have to do is carefully observe small children and learn again who we once were: innocent at first, sullied then by worldly interests and finally scandalized by the behavior of adults eroding away our simplicity and innocence. Then they, our children, became us. The gift of children returns to every generation a child who is father to the man and mother to the woman - if we choose to be more like our children, unattached from soulless possessions, sympathetic to the needs of others, comforting, merciful, peaceful and courageous witnesses to the Faith.

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