PRI Reflections on Scripture • 5-25-24 - Saturday of the 7th Week in Ordinary Time

Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

Gospel Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Then he embraced the children and blessed them, placing his hands on them.
Reflection The Kingdom of God is not something has to be reasoned and rational. It is something that's experienced. What I love about this passage is that the Kingdom of God is described by an action of Jesus embracing children and children embracing Jesus. And that's the image of the kingdom that he wants his disciples to see. They disregarded as their culture did, the importance of children.
But Jesus lifts them to a place of honor by saying, They are the ones who know the kingdom intuitively. And what happens in life is that we lose that sense of that because of the way we're treated, because of the way the world is.
Closing Prayer Heavenly father, help us to witness the Kingdom of God. That it’s not in the way we describe it, or the way we explain, it is always in the way we are living, the way we love, the way we listen, the way we touch, the way we feel what our brothers and sisters are going through. Bless us with this gift, and we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.