5 December 2017 - a little child to guide them

Today's Readings (Audio)

I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike. 

The childlike are ready to welcome the Divine Child who is God himself. Adults have a harder time with this. It cuts through human pride and hubris that the greatest being in the universe takes the least assuming form imaginable. Adults prefer to see displays of power from God. They know that they aren't as powerful as God but they feel they are still somewhere on a continuum of power with him. But the birth of this child changes everything. All pretense of power is meaningless. The babe in the manger has no power as the world understands it. Yet he holds creation in existence. 

Our leader is a little child to guide us. It is for this reason that war can finally be ended. Competition can be forgotten. Fighting can cease.

Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.

God reveals to the simple and the childlike a weakness that is stronger than human strength (see First Corinthians 1:25). Let us be simple enough to welcome the LORD when he comes to us in such a small and unassuming way. But let us not fail to recognize the glory that the shepherds and magi worship and that the angels proclaim on high. He is a child held by his mother, but he is the glorious king of the universe. The smaller we ourselves become, the less distant these two poles will seem. The smaller we become the more we can welcome the greatest of the coming king. This is that for which our hearts long, the deepest of our secret and innermost desires.

"Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."

The king is coming, but he is so small. If we're too big we'll miss him. 

Justice shall flower in his days,
and profound peace, till the moon be no more.
May he rule from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Help us, O Jesus, to become small like you so we can give you the welcome you deserve.