WHOEVER RECEIVES ONE SUCH CHILD IN MY NAME RECEIVES ME.The
following is the Message of His Holiness Pope John Paul II for the holy
season of Lent, dated 8 December 2003, solemnity of the Immaculate
Conception.
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
1. The evocative rite of the imposition of ashes marks the beginning of
the holy season of Lent, when the Liturgy once more calls the faithful to
radical conversion and trust in God's mercy.
This year's theme
— "Whoever
receives one such child in my name receives me" (Mt 18:5)
—
invites us to reflect on the condition of children. Today Jesus continues
to call them to himself and to set them as an example to all those who
wish to be his disciples. Jesus' words call upon us to see how children
are treated in our families, in civil society and in the Church. They are
also an incentive to rediscover the simplicity and trust which believers
must cultivate in imitation of the Son of God, who shared the lot of the
little ones and the poor. Saint Clare of Assisi loved to say that Christ
"lay in a manger, lived in poverty on the earth and died naked on the
Cross" (Testament, Franciscan Sources, n. 2841).
Jesus had a particular love for children because of "their simplicity,
their joy of life, their spontaneity and their faith filled with wonder" (Angelus
Message, 18 December 1994). For this reason he wishes the community to
open its arms and its heart to them, even as he did: "Whoever receives
one such child in my name receives me" (Mt 18:5). Alongside children
Jesus sets the "very least of the brethren": the suffering, the needy, the
hungry and thirsty, strangers, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned. In
welcoming them and loving them, or in treating them with indifference and
contempt, we show our attitude towards him, for it is in them that he is
particularly present.
Learn to follow the Master with childlike docility
2. The Gospel recounts the childhood of Jesus in the simple home of
Nazareth, where he was obedient to his parents and "increased in wisdom
and in years, and in favour with God and man" (Lk 2:52). By becoming
himself a child, he wished to share our human experience. "He emptied
himself", writes the Apostle Paul, "taking the form of a slave,
being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he
humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a Cross"
(Phil 2:7-8). When at 12 years old he remained in the Temple in Jerusalem,
he said to his parents who anxiously looked for him: "How is it that
you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"
(Lk 2:49). Indeed, his whole life was marked by a trusting and filial
obedience to his heavenly Father. "My food", he said, "is to do
the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work" (Jn 4:34).
In the years of his public life Jesus often insisted that only those
who become like children will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (cf. Mt 18:3; Mk
10:15; Lk 18:17; Jn 3:3). In his teaching, young children become a
striking image of the disciple who is called to follow the divine Master
with childlike docility: "Whoever humbles himself like this child, he
is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" (Mt 18:4).
"To become" one of the least and "to receive" the little ones: these
are two aspects of a single teaching which the Lord repeats to his
disciples in our time. Only the one who makes himself one of the "least"
is able to receive with love the "least" of our brothers and sisters.
Combat the many forms of injustice present in the world
3. Many believers strive faithfully to follow these teachings of the
Lord. Here I would mention those parents who willingly take on the
responsibility of a large family, mothers and fathers who, rather than
considering success in their profession and career as the highest value,
make every effort to pass on to their children those human and religious
values that give true meaning to life.
With great admiration I also think of all those committed to caring for
underprivileged children and those who alleviate the sufferings of
children and their families resulting from war and violence, inadequate
food and water, forced immigration and the many forms of injustice present
: in the world.
Together with such great generosity, however, a word must be said about
the selfishness of those who do not "receive" children. There are young
people who have been profoundly hurt by the violence of adults: sexual
abuse, forced prostitution, involvement in the sale and use of drugs;
children forced to work or enlisted for combat; young children scarred
forever by the break-up of the family; little ones caught up in the
obscene trafficking of organs and persons. What too of the tragedy of AIDS
and its devastating consequences in Africa? It is said that millions of
persons are now afflicted by this scourge, many of whom were infected from
birth. Humanity cannot close its, eyes in the face of so appalling a
tragedy.
We need a greater concern for the needs of children
4. What evil have these children done to merit such suffering? From a
human standpoint it is not easy, indeed it may be impossible, to answer
this disturbing question. Only faith can make us begin to understand so
profound an abyss of suffering. By becoming "obedient unto death, even
death on a Cross" (Phil 2:8), Jesus took human suffering upon himself
and illuminated it with the radiant light of his resurrection. By his
death, he conquered death once for all.
During Lent, we prepare to relive the Paschal Mystery, which sheds the
light of hope upon the whole of our existence, even its most complex and
painful aspects. Holy Week will again set before us this mystery of
salvation in the suggestive rites of the Easter Triduum.
Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us set out with trust on our Lenten
journey, sustained by fervent prayer, penance and concern for those in
need. In particular, may this Lent be a time of ever greater concern for
the needs of children, in our own families and in society as a whole: for
they are the future of humanity.
With childlike simplicity pray to the Father
5. With childlike simplicity let us turn to God and call him, as Jesus
taught us in the prayer of the "Our Father", "Abba", "Father".
Our Father! Let us repeat this prayer often during Lent; let us repeat
it with deep emotion. By calling God "Our Father", we will better realize
that we are his children and feel that we are brothers and sisters of one
another. Thus, it will be easier for us to open our hearts to the little
ones, following the invitation of Jesus: "Whoever receives one such
child in my name receives me" (Mt 18:5).
In this hope, I invoke upon each of you God's Blessings, through the
intercession of Mary, Mother of the Word of God made man and Mother of all
humanity.
From the Vatican, 8 December 2003
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