How could we look at these images of Pope Francis with the children and not see Jesus? He reflects Christ’s love most beautifully when he is with the children. In the images below you will see Pope Francis kissing a little boy and the look on the little boy’s face is just priceless. And, the photo of Pope Francis reaching for the little boy that is being handed to him says it all. An encounter between two very different people. The innocence of the little boy who seems to be just absorbing the moment that he is in and Pope Francis who is bursting into a huge smile just at the sight of him. The way Pope Francis looks at the little boy is enough to make you want to cry right there. This little boy’s life is so precious. You can see it in the Pope’s eyes when he reaches for him. There are some things that just can’t be faked and these photos portray in an instant, what would take a thousand words to describe. Jesus Christ himself must have been a great deal like this.
The gospel reading today says ” The little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”
How beautiful! How awesome is Christ’s love! The innocence of the children touched him and he touched them back, with love. How much we could learn from this simple encounter and exchange of love. If the people in heaven are like these little children, we will be so blessed to be there with them too. What joy children can bring to the adults in their lives, if only we could only see them like Christ does. Children are so precious and are made in God’s very own image. Their innocence and the purity of their lives are worth protecting from the very moment they are conceived, and indeed for the rest of their lives as well. No wonder Christ said in another scripture verse in the bible “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe (in me) to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” Mark 9:42
In the first reading today Joshua told the people to “choose this day whom you will serve”. Then he said “but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” The very best thing you can do with your life besides love God and worship Him, is to love your family and teach your children to love Jesus too. Sometimes parents believe they are raising their children in the faith, by bringing their children to mass each week and enrolling them in Catholic schools and religious education classes. Parents also think they are setting a good example by going to mass each week, going to confession regularly, attending the holy days of obligation and participating in the life of the church. Maybe they bring their children to volunteer in parish ministries like delivering food baskets to the poor or visiting the residents in a nursing home too. Parents may teach their children to pray bedtime prayers and the rosary and the Divine Mercy chaplet and practice other religious observances at home too. But, if children do not feel like they are loved, our religious practices have little meaning. We should never assume they know that we love them just because we hug them and kiss them, tell them we love them and do many things for them.
Being overly permissive or overly strict are both damaging to a child. Jesus is both just and merciful. He isn’t one or the other, He is both. Hopefully, we are striving throughout our lives to imitate the Lord Jesus more and more as time goes on.
One last thing. Sometimes parents have such high expectations of a child, that when a child does something that they know is going to let their parents down, they can’t go to them and tell them. When a child, teenager or young adult finds themselves in serious trouble, they should know deep down inside that their parents will always love them, even when they fail to live up to their expectations. Our children need to know that they can always come to us and talk to us without fear of our anger or rejection. This is hard for parents to do sometimes, to set aside the behavior and just love the child, but sometimes there can be serious consequences for our children if they feel like they can’t talk to us for fear of letting us down.
We know we can always talk to Jesus in prayer, trusting him and loving him and we know that we are able to tell him everything, especially in confession. We are not afraid to tell Jesus our sins in confession because we are assured of his forgiveness, his mercy and his healing love. In this way too, we should strive to imitate Christ in our relationships with our children.
