Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus and the kids
And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them. Mk 10,13-16
It is very nice on Sunday, after a working week, to get together in our house for the lunch of this festivity, with the confusion of the kids who play, have fun and quarrel with a spontaneity which we, as adults, have unfortunately lost! Really, a platoon of soldiers would be more orderly, but we prefer the not constrained running around of the kids, which are twisted as the flies of the swallows in the sky. Sometimes one of the kids brakes a knick-knack, another one turns down a glass or he cries because a cousin has taken one of his toys. Let’s keep-up……what type of nice life! Everything is new for them, everything amazes them. They quarrel every five minutes, then they resume playing with spontaneity, only disturbed by some mother who obliges them to call for excuse! In the world of the kids it is normal that, after a fight for a toy – it may be also after some hits – they resume to play together as nothing would be happened. The one who does not welcome the kingdom of God with similar joy and simplicity will not enter into it. The poet Ardengo Soffici describes, as better it would not be, the complete absence of formality by the kids: “How much nice is my kid when he eats, he his completely dirty and his mouth has the colour of the stewed meat”. The kid lives basing upon the love of the parents and by the providence, he has only what we give him, which is what the others want: they do not own anything, neither themselves. The scene of the today gospel is an instant picture of the personality of Jesus and it shows as he is really himself in front of the kids. The behaviour of faithful freedom of those kids is opposed to the one of the disciples, who justify their intrusiveness because of the desire to be able to stay alone with Jesus. I think that such a confusion typical of the kids around the Teacher is a disturbance but, silently, there is some envy, because neither with them Jesus was open and relaxed as in front of the kids. Give us, Lord, your Spirit of welcome to the kids and help us to become, in our turn, kids in front of the gospel and of the life.