27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) - 6 October
6th October 2024
“Go through life like a little child, always trusting, always full of simplicity and humility, content with everything, happy in every circumstance.” – St Faustina Kowalska
A reflection on today's Gospel by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J Sheen:
"No ‘old’ people ever enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We have Divine warrant for this statement, though it was not put exactly in these words. When the Son of God came to this earth He said: ‘The man who does not welcome the Kingdom of God like a child, will never enter into it.’ He did not mean that we had to be childish, but we had to be childlike.
"What are the qualities of the child which are so essential for an adult acquiring the eternal youthfulness of Heaven?
"The first characteristic of a child is that he bathes in the infinite and the eternal. The present is thought by him to be enduring. He cannot understand the past; therefore, death is beyond his comprehension. He cannot understand what is yet to be, or things otherwise than they actually are. Impermanence escapes the child completely. Perhaps one of the reasons why a child feels so sorrowful when the mother leaves the house is he eternalises her absence.
"The child is a voyager without any baggage. He lives in the present and imagines it to be eternal.
"The second characteristic of the child is innocence. The child hardly perceives disorder or evil, or at least does not remark upon them as such. Whatever exists for the child is good and also true. Francis Thompson, catching the full spirit of the innocence of the child, said, ‘Look for me in the nurseries of Heaven.’"
(The Power of Love)
Prayer for Simplicity
Lord, once again I turn to You in trust. Help me to realise that all wisdom comes from You rather than myself. Help me to always turn to You as a child would and help my life to remain simple as You desire. Jesus, I trust in You. Amen. 💐🙏💖