Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
(Zechariah 8:1-8; Luke 9:46-50)
What is it about children that makes Jesus say to accept them is to accept him? It is hard to tell because childhood keeps on changing. No doubt, being a child in Jesus’ time was very different than it is today. Nevertheless, there is at least one constant characteristic that was existent in the first century, became prominent between 1850 and 1950 when -- according to social commentator Neil Postman -- childhood reached its epitome, and still is perceptible today. It is that children follow the directives of their parents confident that obedience will lead to their welfare. In the gospels Jesus trusts his Father so implicitly, but many adults balk at doing what God’s commands.
It is true that we adults have the considerable task of discerning what God wants. But more problematic is our ego’s visualization of God’s will according to our own designs. One sage has called “the dark night of the soul” precisely letting go of “our ego’s hold on the psyche” to allow for a change in our lives which will bring about a new understanding of our relationship with God. It is the painful process of fidelity through questioning and near desperation that ends in our awareness of being God’s children doing what He tells us, ever rejoicing in His love.
Homilette for Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
(Zechariah 8:1-8; Luke 9:46-50)
What is it about children that makes Jesus say to accept them is to accept him? It is hard to tell because childhood keeps on changing. No doubt, being a child in Jesus’ time was very different than it is today. Nevertheless, there is at least one constant characteristic that was existent in the first century, became prominent between 1850 and 1950 when -- according to social commentator Neil Postman -- childhood reached its epitome, and still is perceptible today. It is that children follow the directives of their parents confident that obedience will lead to their welfare. In the gospels Jesus trusts his Father so implicitly, but many adults balk at doing what God’s commands.
It is true that we adults have the considerable task of discerning what God wants. But more problematic is our ego’s visualization of God’s will according to our own designs. One sage has called “the dark night of the soul” precisely letting go of “our ego’s hold on the psyche” to allow for a change in our lives which will bring about a new understanding of our relationship with God. It is the painful process of fidelity through questioning and near desperation that ends in our awareness of being God’s children doing what He tells us, ever rejoicing in His love.
(Zechariah 8:1-8; Luke 9:46-50)
What is it about children that makes Jesus say to accept them is to accept him? It is hard to tell because childhood keeps on changing. No doubt, being a child in Jesus’ time was very different than it is today. Nevertheless, there is at least one constant characteristic that was existent in the first century, became prominent between 1850 and 1950 when -- according to social commentator Neil Postman -- childhood reached its epitome, and still is perceptible today. It is that children follow the directives of their parents confident that obedience will lead to their welfare. In the gospels Jesus trusts his Father so implicitly, but many adults balk at doing what God’s commands.
It is true that we adults have the considerable task of discerning what God wants. But more problematic is our ego’s visualization of God’s will according to our own designs. One sage has called “the dark night of the soul” precisely letting go of “our ego’s hold on the psyche” to allow for a change in our lives which will bring about a new understanding of our relationship with God. It is the painful process of fidelity through questioning and near desperation that ends in our awareness of being God’s children doing what He tells us, ever rejoicing in His love.
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