The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to awareness and action to maintain our Covenant that calls us to be attentive to the needs for peace and promise for the least in our society.
The reading from the Book of Sirach praises the Creation of Human Beings.
b. [17:2–4] Gn 1:26–28; Ps 8:4–9. (Sirach, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 103 is a Thanksgiving for God’s Goodness.
* [Psalm 103] The speaker in this hymn begins by praising God for personal benefits (Ps 103:1–5), then moves on to God’s mercy toward all the people (Ps 103:6–18). Even sin cannot destroy that mercy (Ps 103:11–13), for the eternal God is well aware of the people’s human fragility (Ps 103:14–18). The psalmist invites the heavenly beings to join in praise (Ps 103:19–22). (Psalms, PSALM 103 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus Blesses Little Children.
* [10:15] Whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child: i.e., in total dependence upon and obedience to the gospel; cf. Mt 18:3–4. (Mark, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB, n.d.)
Rashmi Fernando comments that Jesus teaches that embracing vulnerability is the key to the Kingdom. To accept the Kingdom of God like a child means to approach our faith with trust, humility, and openness—recognizing our dependence on God and allowing His love to shape our lives. Today, let us ask ourselves:
Who are the "children" in our midst who need our support?
How often do we, knowingly or unknowingly, push away the vulnerable in our communities, dismiss their struggles, silence their voices, or fail to offer the support they need?
How can we be instruments of God's mercy, ensuring that no one is led into sin or despair by neglect or indifference, but let toward hope and belonging in the Kingdom of God? (Fernando, 2025)
Don Schwager quotes “When the reception of grace begins,” by Basil the Great, 329-379 A.D.
"The apostle praised one [Timothy] who had known the holy Scripture from infancy (2 Timothy 3:15). He also instructed that children be reared 'in the discipline and correction of the Lord' (Ephesians 6:4). So we consider every time of life, even the very earliest, suitable for receiving persons into the community of faith."(excerpt from THE LONG RULES 15) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Sirach 17:1-15 comments that we belong to heaven—that it is our birthright, an inheritance that our Father longs to see us take hold of.
Today, take some time to reflect on your identity as a child of God. Let him show you how you already reflect his holiness, his beauty, and his glory. Ask him how certain aspects of your personality resemble his character. Let these insights fill you with joy and confidence. You are not just an “ordinary person.” You are a child of God. You have a marvelous destiny. You belong to eternity!
“Father, help me to see our resemblance. Show me who I really am in your eyes.” (Meditation on Sirach 17:1-15, 2025)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on some of the wisdom in the passage from Sirach that presents a proper order of society and the Covenant to avoid evil and serve God. Chapters 8-10 of Mark’s Gospel contain inappropriate responses of the disciples to the actions and words of Jesus. Friar Jude notes the focus of Jesus on the anawim and presents an interpretation of the text that suggests chasing away the children may have been saying they were not good enough to survive.
James Finley offers a practice to help us understand Meister Eckhart’s teaching that we are the image of God. This is a paraphrase of Eckhart: Imagine you’re standing before a full-length mirror, and imagine the image of you is conscious, that it can think.
Eckhart says, “The image owes no allegiances to anything except that of which it is the image.”… There is nothing that has the authority to say what it is except that of which it is the image. And so it is with us, Eckhart says, that we are the image of God. Without God, we are nothing, absolutely nothing. In being the image of God, we owe no allegiances to anything but the Infinite Love in whose image we are made. And the idolatry of diversions of the heart where we wander off into cul-de-sacs with the imagined authority of anything less or other than Infinite Love to name who we are? This is the problem. (Finley, n.d.)
We ponder how the blessing of our relationship with children is a window into the nature of our need to seek transformation by the Spirit to be agents of love and support for the anawim of today.
References
Fernando, R. (2025, March 1). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved March 1, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/030125.html
Finley, J. (n.d.). Rhineland Mystics: Weekly Summary. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved March 1, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/rhineland-mystics-weekly-summary/
Mark, CHAPTER 10 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved March 1, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/10?13
Meditation on Sirach 17:1-15. (2025, March 1). The Word Among Us. Retrieved March 1, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/03/01/1217045/
Psalms, PSALM 103 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved March 1, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/103?13
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Receive the Kingdom of God like a Child. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 1, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=mar1
Sirach, CHAPTER 17 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved March 1, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/17?1
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