19th Week, Saturday, Aug 19: St. John Eudes
Joshua 24:14-29 / Matthew 19:13-15
Joshua confronts the people; "Decide
whom you will serve."
A man named Sam went to consult a doctor about his ailing
health. The doctor checked him carefully and said, "Sam, the best thing
you can do is go on a diet, give up smoking, and start exercising daily." Sam
turned and said, "Doc, I don't deserve the best. What's the second-best
thing I can do?"
When the point of that story sinks in, we realize how much
we are all like the Israelites in today's reading. We too know what we should
do, but we don't do it. We vacillate and we compromise. We lack the courage and
the discipline to "bite the bullet."
***
Is there something in our lives right now that we are
compromising? "Wisdom is knowing what to do next. Skill is knowing how to
do it. Virtue is doing it." Thomas Jefferson
***
At the
occasion of the entrance of God’s people into the Promised Land, Joshua
convokes them to renew the covenant. They must realize that by doing so, they
opt for God, they make a decisive choice, and they commit themselves to God and
his kingdom. Haven’t we taken the same option at baptism? We are bound to the
God of the covenant, a God of tender love. To serve him is a response of love
given in freedom.
Few people
today take Jesus’ words seriously when he says: “To such as these little
children the kingdom of heaven belongs.” Many, for example, discredit the
spirituality of the little way of St. Therese of Lisieux. We speak of adulthood
in Christ, of a human and spiritual maturity. And yet, true adulthood consists
in what God wanted us to be in Jesus Christ, in being receptive to the Gospel.
To the disciples, who have no use for children and who want to cut the Gospel
to the measure of their petty ideas, Jesus holds up the child not as a sign of
innocence but as a model of openness to God and to the Good News of his Son. It
is the entrance ticket to the kingdom.
***
A childlike trust
Jesus delighted in the children and demonstrated that God's
love is ample for everyone, including children. He does not care about
transgressing the norms that prevent the little ones from being appreciated and
received into the fraternity. Jesus introduces a new way of seeing
and appreciating relationships among people. Taking up the cause of the
excluded and the little ones, he defends them. It is impressive to look at the
Gospel accounts about Jesus' attitude towards children and the little
ones.
Children have a lot to teach us. According to
Jesus, children are not only to play a central role in the community's life,
but adults can also learn from them. It is to such as these
children, Jesus says, that the kingdom of God belongs. In order
to enter God's kingdom, we should respond to the gift of the gospel
with the trust and openness that children have.
The majority of adults believe that they know more than
children. Yet young children typically see things as they are; they
are not yet blinded by the messages of our grasping culture. We pray
that we learn to know our limits. We pray for the young to grow
strong in faith. There is no one who is unimportant to God. He comes to
each person individually and uniquely that he might touch them with
his healing love and power.
This Gospel text also indicates that the
parents have to show the good spiritual instincts in their
responsibility. This is what Pope Francis said: “‘Let the children come to me,
and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.’ And he laid
his hands on them and went away” (Mt 19:13-15). How beautiful
is this trust of the parents and Jesus’ response! How I would
like this passage to become the norm for all children! It is true that by
the grace of God children in grave difficulty are often given extraordinary
parents, ready and willing to make every sacrifice. But these parents should
not be left alone! We should accompany them in their toil, and alsooffer
them moments of shared joy and light-hearted cheer, so that they are not left
with only routine therapy” (Audience 8 April 2015)
They have to bring their children to Jesus. They
need to teach them to pray, to go to Mass and above all, to learn
that Jesus truly is their best friend with whom they can share everything. It
is the greatest gift to give to children.
***
Let us Pray:
Lord our God, you
love all that is little and humble.
As a child
seeks refuge in the arms of its parents, may our strength be to let you carry
us. Teach us through little children not to boast of anything we have or
anything we have done but to be open to and receptive of your grace. For you
are our greatness and richness through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen
***
Saint John Eudes
Feast day August 19
John, born in Normandy, France, in 1601, was educated by
Jesuits. He became a priest and joined a religious community, the Oratorians.
Using his gifts as a preacher and confessor, he gave parish missions. He saw
that parish priests needed support in becoming men of prayer and action. He
held conferences for them in which he outlined their duties. Later, John
started his own society of priests called the Congregation of Jesus and Mary.
The members were dedicated to promoting good seminary training, which would
form Christlike priests.
Christian love impelled John to feel compassion for the
women who were trying to escape prostitution. He wanted a place for them to
live, a refuge from their former way of life. To serve the women in these
refuges, he established a society of religious women called the Congregation of
Our Lady of the Refuge. It now serves the needs of troubled girls around the
world.
Saint John Eudes has been called the Apostle of the Sacred
Heart because he revived devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. He died in
France in 1680.
