“Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).
Who is not familiar with the openness of an unspoiled child? Who can resist this charm? And it is not only parents who delight in it. Unless our hearts have become completely hardened, we humans cannot help but be moved by it. How much less so our Heavenly Father! What joy it must bring Him to see such a child. After all, it is His child whom He entrusts to humanity.
Jesus speaks here of this trusting openness of a child. He wishes to find this in us as well—a simple heart that harbors no distrust toward Him, that expects only good from Him, and that belongs to Him.
There is a way to achieve this if we cultivate an ever-deepening relationship of love with our Lord. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to descend into the depths of our being; then we will perceive—both inwardly and in our outward behavior—what still stands in the way of this trusting openness. We will then bring these things to God, speak with our Father about them, and ask Him to make us as He loves us to be. Will He withdraw from this act of love? Certainly not, for He Himself has placed this act within us!
Day by day, our trust will grow. Even if we were highly educated, held the most important government and church positions, and were renowned, our childlike openness toward God should not only remain but grow day by day. What would we be without our Father?
We are all heading toward the hour of our death. It is the hour when everything is taken from our hands. If we walk the “path of inner childhood,” we will be able to say: “Thank You, beloved Father. Now I am truly looking forward to coming to You and to Your own.” They will be waiting!
Here is the video featuring the words of Jesus that we meditated on today: