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September 22, 2024We gather today to celebrate Christ's victory over evil and death. This is the meaning of Sunday, the weekly Easter. In the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus announces again to his disciples that to reach the victory of the resurrection he will have to pass through the scandal of the cross, he will have to suffer and die. Jesus repeats this announcement several times to his disciples. But they are unable to understand, they refuse to accept this because it sounds too harsh to their ears.In reality, with these statements Jesus is resuming the condition of the just man described in the book of wisdom, which reminds the persecution of those who follow God. The saints are always put to the test.We too find these words to be too harsh. We too struggle to accept that the path to resurrection passes through sacrifice. In fact, our heart tells us that we are made for happiness and not for suffering. We instinctively reject pain because we are made for full joy. In Christianity, sacrifice is never the purpose of an action. The goal is always love and happiness. But the path of love passes through sacrifice.Jesus repeats this truth to his disciples. But they were convinced that following Jesus would lead them to success, to the kingdom of God without too much effort.The scandal of the cross is so difficult to accept that the disciples almost seem not wanting to think about it, rather they think about something completely different.In the Gospel we see that the disciples, instead of considering the words of Jesus, wonder who among them was the greatest.Consider the pain that Jesus must have felt: when Jesus is explaining them the mystery of the cross, as a mystery of love, the disciples argue about who among them is the most important.But Jesus uses this strange discussion of the apostles to reveal to them a great secret; it is right to want to be great, we are made for great things, we are made to live in the communion of saints. But Jesus tells us that only he who lives in humility is truly great. He who loves is great, he who serves his brothers and sisters is great. He who puts himself in the last place and loves his brothers is truly the first. This, in fact, is exactly what Jesus did. He is the greatest, he is the son of God. And what did he do? He put himself in the last place, he served everyone, he gave his life for us!Furthermore, to make his disciples understand these words well, Jesus calls a child and puts the child at the center. Jesus embraces the Child tenderly and invites his disciples to welcome children in his name. Because Jesus is present in them. For this reason, whoever welcomes children welcomes Jesus himself and whoever welcomes Jesus welcomes the one who sent him into the world, that is, the heavenly Father.We can ask ourselves a question: why does Jesus express this strong tenderness for children and identifies with them? The answer is: it is because Jesus is the true child, he is the son of God, he is forever the son of God. Being children means feeling loved, knowing that we are under the provident gaze of the heavenly Father who wants us and loves us. A child who feels loved is a serene child. Those who feel loved have faith in life and are serene to face any event in life because they know that the Father never abandons us.When we do not feel loved, our life becomes complicated, and we become insecure and full of doubts. Saint James in his letter tells us how we remain deeply dissatisfied when we are not in relationship with God, and we cultivate disordered desires in our hearts.Dear faithful, let us now reflect on ourselves. We are called not only to welcome children with love and respect, but we are called to recognize ourselves as children, as children loved by the heavenly Father.Let us never forget it: we are children not only when we were little, even as adults we must never stop being children. Jesus invites us to welcome the child that is within us and that lives within us which sometimes we forget. Please, welcome the child who is in yourselves and who needs to be embraced.Dearest, let us follow Jesus, the son of God and learn from him and to be children full of trust in God the Father.May the mother of God, Mary most holy, keep us in the love of God and make us walk serenely and full of trust, loving one another and in peace.
