Jesus calls all the little folks, weary and burdened, to give them rest. Their load comes from the wise who seek to hinder them. 

One not of the group of Jesus’ disciples was driving out demons in his name.  And the disciples tried to hinder him. But it turned out that in doing so, they showed they were not on the same wavelength as their Teacher.

And do they not show once more that they do not think and feel like him? For they try to hinder the children from going near him. He, in turn, gets angry and tells them to let the children come to him, and not hinder them.

But children are not the only ones that learned folks (with a bit or much learning) try to hinder. The learned, and those starting to be so, also brush off the simple folks of the fields with little schooling. The former deem the latter to count for little, to be uncouth, to lack understanding of religion, to babble. They are not fit, as the wise, to have a share of God’s graces. Or other good things he wants for all, but the wise think are just theirs.

And often women are brushed off, too, and groan under the yoke of male domination. The law of Moses, for instance, lets the husband write his wife a divorce bill and send her away. But the wife cannot do the same.

Jesus, though, would have none of it. He takes man and woman to be equal; God made them male and female. He thus upholds what God has planned for husband and wife from the very start. They are one flesh and should stay so. God does not want the husband to treat his wife like a thing he owns, uses and can throw away. And he is not to lord over her.

Do not hinder the little ones. 

Hence, not to hinder God’s plans means that, among us, there should not be those who lord over others, those who are after the first and best places of wealth and power where others can serve them.

Among us, all must seek the last places and welcome, serve, embrace and bless the weakest and the neediest. That these are so crude and gross should not hinder us from caring for them (SV.EN XI:26).  And, no, women among us cannot be ordained. Still and all, they can go along with God’s plan as they turn into mothers of abandoned children (SV.EN XIIIb:432).

And so, thanks to the Father, yes, for letting his little ones know what he hides from the wise.

Lord Jesus, meek and humble of heart, you tell us that the kingdom of God belongs to the children and to those who are like them. Do not let us hinder them from getting their share of your blessings and gifts. Make us welcome and serve them and share in your being perfect through suffering for them to the point of giving up our bodies and shedding our blood. Let us honor them, so that we may not sin against your body and blood.

6 October 2024
27th Sunday in O.T. (B)
Gen 2, 18-24; Heb 2, 9-11; Mk 10, 2-16