Join Msgr. Don Fischer as he reads and delivers a short reflection on today’s gospel, followed by 3 1/2 minutes of contemplative music and a closing prayer. Msgr. Don hopes that today’s reflection on the gospel will empower you to carry the Word in your heart throughout the day.

Choose either the video or audio below.

Gospel
Matthew 19:13-15

Children were brought to Jesus
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.

Reflection

It's hard to imagine exactly how children were held in the imaginations of those around them. But what Jesus is using them for is a beautiful, beautiful example of what it means to be in His kingdom. He's just given them rules and regulations about relationships that are, for some, very harsh and hard.

And now He says, You know, children are the best example of who I long for my people to be. They're open, receptive, filled with wonder, awe, imagination. They can believe stories that they don't have to figure out how they happen. There's such a gift and such a model for who we are to become when we work in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Closing Prayer

Father, we can be blinded by our responsibilities, by our obligations, by all the things that preoccupy us. Help us to return often to a childlike state of awe and wonder. It's easy for us to lose it as we think about the way the world is going. But if we could just be more like children knowing everything is being cared for us by God. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.