Ja nad tulid Kapernauma. Ja kui nad jõudsid koju, küsis Jeesus neilt: "Mille üle te tee peal arutlesite?" Nemad aga jäid vait, sest nad olid teel omavahel arutanud, kes on suurim. Ja Jeesus istus maha, kutsus need kaksteist ja ütles neile: "Kui keegi tahab olla esimene, siis ta olgu viimane ja kõikide teenija!" Ja ta võttis ühe lapse, pani nende keskele seisma, kaisutas last ja ütles neile: "Kes iganes ühe niisuguse lapse vastu võtab minu nimel, võtab vastu minu, ja kes iganes vastu võtab minu, võtab vastu mitte minu, vaid minu Läkitaja." Mk 9:33-37
Doesn't this way Jesus has of doing things move us to love him? He teaches them the doctrine and then, to enable them to understand it, he gives them a living example. He calls a little child, one of the children running around the house, and he lovingly embraces him. How eloquent Our Lord's silence is! With it he has already said everything. He loves those who become as little children. He then adds that the reward for this simplicity, for this humility of spirit, is the joy of being able to embrace him and his Father who is in heaven (Friends of God,102).
To become children we must renounce our pride and self-sufficiency, recognizing that we can do nothing by ourselves. We must realize that we need grace, and the help of God our Father to find our way and keep to it. To be little, you have to abandon yourself as children do, believe as children believe, beg as children beg.
And we learn all this through contact with Mary... Because Mary is our mother, devotion to her teaches us to be authentic sons: to love truly, without limit; to be simple, without the complications which come from selfishly thinking only about ourselves; to be happy, knowing that nothing can destroy our hope. "The beginning of the way, at the end of which you will find yourself completely carried away by love for Jesus, is a trusting love for Mary." (Christ is passing By, 143).
What a wonderful thing it is to be a child! When a man asks a favour, his request must be backed by a list of his qualifications.
When it is a child who asks — since children haven't any qualifications — it's enough for him to say: I'm a son of So-and-so.
Doesn't this way Jesus has of doing things move us to love him? He teaches them the doctrine and then, to enable them to understand it, he gives them a living example. He calls a little child, one of the children running around the house, and he lovingly embraces him. How eloquent Our Lord's silence is! With it he has already said everything. He loves those who become as little children. He then adds that the reward for this simplicity, for this humility of spirit, is the joy of being able to embrace him and his Father who is in heaven (Friends of God,102).To become children we must renounce our pride and self-sufficiency, recognizing that we can do nothing by ourselves. We must realize that we need grace, and the help of God our Father to find our way and keep to it. To be little, you have to abandon yourself as children do, believe as children believe, beg as children beg.
And we learn all this through contact with Mary... Because Mary is our mother, devotion to her teaches us to be authentic sons: to love truly, without limit; to be simple, without the complications which come from selfishly thinking only about ourselves; to be happy, knowing that nothing can destroy our hope. "The beginning of the way, at the end of which you will find yourself completely carried away by love for Jesus, is a trusting love for Mary." (Christ is passing By, 143).
What a wonderful thing it is to be a child! When a man asks a favour, his request must be backed by a list of his qualifications.
When it is a child who asks — since children haven't any qualifications — it's enough for him to say: I'm a son of So-and-so.
Ah, Lord, — say it to him with all your heart! — I am a son of God! (The Way, 892).