What We Owe To Children

Mark 10: 2-16

That Jesus loved little children and had time for them is clear from today's Gospel reading. The Apostles, Knowing He was tired and that He should be given some space, had sent away the mothers who wanted their youngsters blessed. “Jesus was indignant” Saint Mark wrote. That means He was angry. “Let the little children come to Me, do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. I tell you solemnly, anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” He then embraced and blessed them.

There was something significant about this particular occasion. Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem for the last time. He was going to die, and He knew it. He had told His Apostles, but they did not understand. The weight of the world was on His shoulders and He was carrying it all alone. At a time like that, a time of personal stress, most of us become impatient - and have little or no time for children. That was the very time that Jesus wanted children to be around Him. They were a welcome distraction.

There are things children can teach us. They can help us to be unselfish. As adults we cannot go on living the way we live, if we really care about children. In the first part of our reading, Jesus talked about divorce which has been with us for a long time and will, no doubt, be with us for a long time to come. But I am convinced that many divorces would never have taken place if people had considered the children. In a divorce it is they who suffer most, torn between the love of father or mother. They often feel it is a question of taking sides. If they love one, they feel disloyal to the other. This should never be asked of a child. If we cared about little ones, as our Lord cared for them, we would never allow ourselves to become used to the idea of divorce. Loving children will make us unselfish.

Children also create and sustain within us a spirit of hope. Someone has said, “The birth of a baby is a sure sign that God has not yet given up on His world.” (Lk 2:11) Children are the hope of the human race. With every new generation, there is no telling what may happen. Those tiny hands may someday open the door to a new era of peace and goodwill.

Jesus must have felt that as the children gathered around Him because He was going to Jerusalem where the atmosphere would be heavy with hatred. But for a little while He could look into fresh faces and feel the love and trust that belong in a special sense in the young.

When we become discouraged about the human race, there are a number of ways to deal with it. We can read the Bible and be reminded that people have always had problems, none of which has been too great for the grace of God to bring them through. We can pray and draw on that reservoir of Divine power that renews the strength of the inner person. We can visit a friend, in whom we find those qualities of character that make life worth living. Or we can do what Jesus did – spend a little time with children. Those mothers brought their children to Him that He could minister to them. But you can be sure that those children ministered to Him. He needed what they had to give, and so do we.

Heavenly Father, help us never to forget that children depend upon us, and help us to be true to their trust. And help us, too, to realises our dependence on them.