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

There are many ways in which children become a model for us in the Kingdom of God, and one that I would like to stress is simply the fact that children naturally are drawn to play more than they're drawn to work. Play is spontaneous. It's free. It's filled with imagination and wonder. Work is more of a task to be accomplished.

Something that needs to be figured out, worked on, improved, changed. We have to have both in our life. As adults we need to have a time to relax and play and enjoy simply being alive. It's not all about work.

Closing Prayer

Father, perhaps more than ever now, we seem to be preoccupied with things that have to be dealt with, though our imaginations are kind of on the back burner as we continue to use our minds to figure things out, to make decisions. Bless us with a mind of a child so we can simply relax and enjoy the beauty that we sometimes miss that is all around us. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.