UNLESS YOU BECOME LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN (Matt 18.1 7) By Fr. Peter W. Matthew, C.S.Sp.

The call to discipleship is a special call to an ordinary way of life but with a difference. It is a call to follow, rather than to lead. Leadership in the mind of Jesus is the same as service, rather than to Rule. This call is a call to humility rather than greatness. It is not a competition, but a call to outdo one another in service. This comes out strongly in the words of Jesus Christ in the above Gospel verses.

Jesus notices his disciples having little arguments but said nothing. However, when they could not agree among themselves, they now go to him to ask him to make the final pronouncement on who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. It is important to understand their question very well, else we lose their motive. They are not asking, who among them will be the greatest. Rather, they are asking what quality is necessary one possesses to become the greatest in the kingdom of God. They want to know who it is that is the greatest; the poor, the weak, the proud, the humble, the great, kings, etc.

In reply to that question Jesus placed a child before them and said that no one can enter the kingdom of heaven unless he first renounces himself and live like a child. But how can an adult become like a child? Is it possible to change and become like child? In order to find answers to these questions, we need to take a closer look at the nature of the child, and its characteristics.

SIMPLICITY A child is the contrast of an adult in so many ways. In little children we see a simplicity that is so natural and friendly. Unlike adults, children appear to be easy-going with life, their relationships and whatever they do (Lk 18:15). They thus reveal to us the nature or state in which God made us in the beginning.

TOTAL DEPENDENCE AND TRUST

In the simplicity of the Child, we also see this sense of total and unalloyed trust and dependence on the parents. The child believes that the parents know what is best for him and that they will not let anyone or anything hurt him/her. Thus, the child feels safe whenever the parents are around, and does not worry about tomorrow because what is important is now. In the same way, disciples of Christ who believe in God as father and owner of all things need to totally trust and depend of God's loving benevolence and protection, with the simplicity of a child. Also, as a result of this trust, the child is not afraid to venture into difficult realities of life. For example, the child will not stop relating or playing with his/her peer simply because he/she may sustain injury or get dirty. No, they play not thinking about injuries and dirts because mum or dad can take care of everything. This is why children are more creative and adventurous than adults. On the contrary, adults are afraid of relating with people or even loving them for fear that they could be led into sin or that their feelings may be hurt in relationships. By so doing, we suppress the love which God has planted in our hearts, and by so doing too, we commit the same sin we are afraid of committing.

FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION Every human being at one time or another gets hurt by others or may hurt other people in the course of relating with them. The same applies to children in their relations with their peer or even their parents and siblings. However, unlike adults they readily let go of any sin committed against them and make room for reconciliation. At most, they cry and run to their parents or guardian to let them know that they have been hurt. They become consoled when touched or assured by the parents that they will see to their problem. They go back to their play; sometimes too, they go back to the same person who has hurt them to inform them that they have informed their parents (Matt 6:9-15). From then on, reconciliation has taken place and it is play as usual. And if it is the child that is at wrong, there is little hesitation on his part to show his penitence and to ask for forgiveness. The penitent child or even one who has committed a crime is not hard to notice. They do not rationalize their wrong doings. Rather, they accept them and feel remorse for their deeds; and having no words or knowledge of how to express that remorse, they cry. (tax collector and Pharisee, Lk 18:9-14). SEEKING TO PLEASE (Jn. 4:34) Little children always seek to please their parents in everything they do. They feel happy when they see smiles on the faces of their parents. This is why babies and little children smile at their parents. They also become sad when their parents frown and could not be made to smile. Most times we notice that children cry whenever they see or hear their mothers cry. Thus, in all things they try their best to please their parents, even when they do not know how, and tend to displease them instead. No matter what happens, then do not relent in their efforts.

REVERENTIAL FEAR

The love of the child for the parents cannot be quantified or described. It is with and through the parents that he first experiences love and trust. This love can become so intense in the child that he begins to feel sympathy for the misfortune of the parents, appreciates any and everything that the parents will do for him or the family. In love, the child fears the parents and will not willingly do anything that will make daddy of mommy angry. As such, the child maintains a loving and respectful distance from the parents.

FLEXIBLE AND DOCILE Every child is like a soft wet clay that is flexible and has the potency of any shape and size and offers very little resistance, if any at all. The child is open to learning new things and believes what he learns as the whole truth. He is ready to go anywhere or do whatever he has been told to do. Children become scandalized either when they discover that what they have been taught is not true or when an adult goes contrary to what they have believed with their whole heart. This is dangerous because it may lead the child to a total loss of faith (Matt 18:6-7). Conclusively, we can say that the Child is the only mirror of human innocence at creation and birth. In children we see the way God intended from the beginning. They have pure hearts because what come out of their hearts through their words and deeds not sinful nor immoral. This is why Jesus says that what defiles a person is not what he hears or eats; rather, his actions and words (Lk 6:39; Matt 15:10-11). So, having looked at the qualities on a child, we can now understand why Jesus insists that there is no other way to enter the kingdom of God, except if we change and become like little children. In so many ways Jesus gives his disciples clue as to why humility is necessary for entrance into God's kingdom. In one passage of the Gospel he says that the path and gate is narrow that leads to God's kingdom. In another, he will liken it to the Eye of a Needle which only little animals can enter, but not camels, more so when they are carry loads (Matt. 19:23-25). All these show that Heaven is meant only for those who empty or renounce their old self and ways of life to a totally dependent self on God's providence. But the question is; how does one become like little children?

In the Holy Gospel according to St. John (3:1-8), a man named Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to ask almost similar question: What shall one do to inherit eternal life? to this, Jesus asked him to become like a little child by being Born Again. Nicodemus asserts that this is not possible for a man of his own age. In other words, he was thinking as an adult, thus seeing nothing but impossibilities. But Jesus told him that this change would demand his renunciation of his old adult self and thought pattern, to embrace or put on a child-like nature and trust, and belief. This is a spiritual rebirth that would demand we live always in and by the Holy spirit power in which all things are possible for them that believe (Matt. 19:26). In other words, Jesus calls us to live our lives in and for God, trusting, believing and hoping completely in him who

alone has the power to bring us to that heavenly home. All we need to do is to follow him and believe everything he teaches with child-like faith and simplicity.