Description

Jesus with a child

Jesus feels a great predilection for children, and He sets them as an example of innocence, simplicity and purity of soul. Moreover, He Himself identifies with them when He says that whoever receives one of these little ones receives Him. To enter heaven, one must become like a child.

One day, the twelve apostles were arguing about who was the greatest (Mark 9:33-37). Jesus, who guessed their reflections, said to them a disconcerting word that moved and shook their categories: “Whoever wishes to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all”.

To his word he added the gesture. He is looking for a child, a child he found abandoned on a street in Capernaum? He brings him, “places him in the midst” of this gathering of future leaders of the Church and tells them: “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me”.

Jesus identifies himself with the child he has just taken into his arms. He affirms that it is “a child like this” who best represents him, in such a way that to welcome such a child is the same as welcoming him, Christ.