Saturday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
The Kingdom is of the childlike people
Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After he placed his hands on them, he went away. Mt 19,13-15
“Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of haven belongs to such of these”. This exhortation of Jesus, after having read and understood it as far as possible, should then to be laid on our heart, giving it the time to be assimilated, like the water which, after the rain, penetrates in the soil. From the window of the house of Castiglioncello I see Letizia and Carlotta who, barefoot, play with the water and with the small stones of the garden. What does Jesus mean by his statement that only the one who knows how to welcome the Kingdom of the heaven as one of them can get in it? There is the high risk to consider impossible, or to see in nostalgic terms, something which is very real and deep. We are at the extreme limits of the christian wisdom, which we touch in the gospel every time we meet a sick man, a repented sinner, a widow, a samaritan or a child. The child knows that his life is completely dependent upon the others. He constantly looks around to discover the reality, reacting to it spontaneously, passing instantaneously from the tears to the laughter. The child discovers the life and the things with wonder, playing with fantasy with whichever thing is available to this, he lives with naturalness his feelings, bickering and forgiving immediately, he trusts blindly his parents and when he falls asleep, he sleeps quite, without worries. The children are able to dream of being this or that character, although knowing that it is a game; they live the present and they trust the adults for the future.The children, humanly speaking, have no concreteness: they prefer situations from which the adults escape to devote themselves to the activity of self-achievement. The children of the gospel are those who follow the Lord unconditionally, trusting blindly the project which he has for them. At this point the following question arises: “Is it not allowed to use intelligence, maturity, good sense and the natural gifts which we have refined over the years, when we have family, professional and social responsibilities?”.These are gifts to be used because these are descending from God, however these must be used within the project of life which the Lord has entrusted to us. Just as the children do, who live their days, doing what the adults decide or simply using all the gifts they have, natural or acquired. Give us, Lord, the good sense of the child, which is born just from his weakness. Teach us to listen the children to be enlightened by their wisdom. Give us, Lord, the faith to embrace your project by the same way of the children.