Friday, September 18, 2015

Mark 9:35-37

He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’

Welcome the child

To welcome a child is to welcome the presence Christ is within them and within oneself. For Christ is present in the need and desire to love and be loved, to know connection that shatters the fears and feeling of being separated, alone.

We are not made to be alone. We are each an image of the Great Love who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Holy Circle in which gracious self-giving flows eternally from one divine person to the next.

This is the self that lies deep within each of us and certainly each child. It is closer to the surface in children for they have manufactured fewer layers of ego to protect their tender hearts.

They have greater access to the reaches of the inmost heart, receiving and loving naturally and freely. We who are older must overcome anxieties about sharing the love we feel and receiving the love we need.

In this giving and receiving we become what we are, souls made in the image of the Great Love. We share in the Holy Circle of Love God is, and it becomes larger in us and the world.

When we welcome a child we welcome the child Christ is within us.

We invite the holy child to grow in us, to become flesh in our flesh, to ring warm and true in our words and shine in our eyes.

When we welcome the child the world has one more face in whom the Face beyond all Faces shines … for all with eyes to see … a most exquisite beauty.

Pr. David L. Miller