In our Christian assemblies we tend to forget the children. That is except of course the little babies who scream and cry. And to do away with the screamers, we put them in a special room in the back where they cannot be heard or seen! Overall, even the bigger children seem to be left out of our celebrations. So naturally the children feel left out and do not want to participate. When I was a little kid, we had Sunday children’s masses – not many adults, no families, just kids. I am a public-school kid, so my brother and I had to sit in the back. No families, no adults, sitting in the back. That didn’t seem right.
In Jesus’ time there were lots of children, but they were not allowed to do much more than work in the house. They did not have any legal rights as children and people do today. They were seen as objects of their household until they learned how to read aloud from the Bible. So, our culture in the USA treats children like they did in the time of Jesus. Kids have more legal rights now, but the treatment hasn’t changed much. How shocking it must have been for the disciple to see Jesus insist that they allow children to come to him; how he puts the celebration with the adults; and how he placed a child in the midst saying they had to become like a child again.
When I was on the Navajo reservation all the children came to mass with their families – the whole family together. Sometimes the lambs, goats, birds, and dogs came into the chapel, too. Then when I was in Peru, there was a parish group that had the older children (around 3rd grade and up) sit in the first rows of pews. I would always say: “You have the best seats in the place because you are the most important. We reserved the best just for you.” Once a month there were blessings for the children and once a year on the feast of the Holy Family, right after Christmas, I would bless all the children – from newborn to teenagers. There was usually a big line. What a joy for the whole community! When I was in Peru last month, we did a blessing of all those children again. This time many of them were young adults and university students. What a joy to see them grow into their faith as young adults.
Why did Jesus tell his disciple and us that they have to be like children? What do children have that is so important to Jesus? Trust and confidence in their family and God, joy, energy, creativity, obedience, openness, and a lack guile.
Children should have the best seats in our assemblies because that makes them feel a part of the Church and being in the most important seats, they remind us, the adults, of the virtues that Jesus is looking for in each of us.
I promise you that you cannot get into God’s kingdom,
unless you accept it the way a child does.
Image: https://catholicsstrivingforholiness.org/jesus-and-the-children-mk-1013-16/