Become like children

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to consider the blessing of sharing our daily lives with children who remind us of sincerity, humility, kindness, and care.

Become Like Children

The Reading from the Book of Exodus proclaims the Reward of Fidelity.

* [23:21] My authority is within him: lit., “My name is within him.” (Exodus, CHAPTER 23, n.d.)

Psalm 91 praises The shelter of the Most High.

* [Psalm 91] A prayer of someone who has taken refuge in the Lord, possibly within the Temple (Ps 91:1–2). The psalmist is confident that God’s presence will protect the people in every dangerous situation (Ps 91:3–13). The final verses are an oracle of salvation promising salvation to those who trust in God (Ps 91:14–16).

* [91:1] The shelter of the Most High: basically “hiding place” but in the Psalms a designation for the protected Temple precincts, cf. Ps 27:5; 31:21; 61:5. The shade of the Almighty: lit., “the shadow of the wings of the Almighty,” cf. Ps 17:8; 36:8; 57:2; 63:8. Ps 91:4 makes clear that the shadow is an image of the safety afforded by the outstretched wings of the cherubim in the holy of holies. (Psalms, PSALM 91 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus identifies the Greatest in the Kingdom.

* [18:3] Become like children: the child is held up as a model for the disciples not because of any supposed innocence of children but because of their complete dependence on, and trust in, their parents. So must the disciples be, in respect to God.

* [18:10] Their angels in heaven…my heavenly Father: for the Jewish belief in angels as guardians of nations and individuals, see Dn 10:13, 20–21; Tb 5:4–7; 1QH 5:20–22; as intercessors who present the prayers of human beings to God, see Tb 13, 12:15, . The high worth of the little ones is indicated by their being represented before God by these heavenly beings. (Matthew, CHAPTER 18, n.d.)

Nancy Shirley comments that the Guardian Angel prayer is also a staple in her family.

 

When we fly, we always hold hands at take-off and landing and say the prayer. Even my 10-year-old granddaughter never misses saying it when she travels. A couple of summers ago when she was going to fly alone with her dad, she asked my daughter to go over the prayer with her so she could be sure to say it herself. 

Angel of God, my guardian dear,

to whom God’s love entrusts me here,

ever this day be at my side to light and guard, 

to rule and guide. Amen”

How can I doubt or be fearful? This song says it best! Whom Shall I Fear [God of Angel Armies] by Chris Tomlin. (Shirley, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Their angels behold the face of my Father in heaven,” by Chromatius (died 406 AD).

"It is not right to despise anyone who believes in Christ. A believer is called not only a servant of God but also a son through the grace of adoption, to whom the kingdom of heaven and the company of the angels is promised. And rightly the Lord adds, 'For I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.' How much grace the Lord has toward each one believing in him he himself declares when he shows their angels always beholding the face of the Father who is in heaven. Great is the grace of the angels toward all who believe in Christ. Finally, the angels carry their prayers to heaven. Hence the word of Raphael to Tobias: 'When you prayed along with your daughter-in-law Sara, I offered the memory of your prayer in the sight of God (Deutero-canonical book of Tobit 12:12). Around them there is also the strong guard of the angels; they help each of us to be free from the traps of the enemy. For a human in his weakness could not be safe amid so many forceful attacks of that enemy if he were not strengthened by the help of the angels." (excerpt from TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 57.1) [Note: Chromatius was an early Christian scholar and bishop of Aquileia, Italy. He was a close friend of John Chrysostom and Jerome. He died in 406 AD. Jerome described him as a "most learned and most holy man."] (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 18:1-5, 10 comments that Jesus telling the disciples they had to “turn and become like children” in order to even enter his kingdom must have puzzled them (Matthew 18:3). How could choosing to be unimportant make you important? It seemed backwards!

On today’s feast of the Guardian Angels, we encounter something else that seems backwards: that each of us has our own personal angel to help us! Angels are immortal beings who “always look upon the face of [our] heavenly Father” (Matthew 18:10). Why would they even bother with us?

So let the guardian angels be an example for you today about the greatness that comes from humility. Let them show you how love leads to joyful service. Ask your guardian angel to pray for you, that you could embrace that same attitude and make serving the Lord your top priority. And as you do, ask him to help you discern how you can best put your skills and talents to work for the sake of God’s kingdom.

“Lord, thank you for giving me a guardian angel to look out for me. Help me imitate the humility and servant’s heart of all the angels!” (Meditation on Matthew 18:1-5, 10, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler recalls the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah. Ezra encourages them to learn the Law that opens up possibilities like when we are convicted by a homily and God has given us an opportunity to grow. In Matthew, Jesus says in the Kingdom of Heaven we have to become like little children. Jesus speaks of a special angel that watches over us, a marvelous concept but Friar Jude suggests that some are too involved with connection to a guardian angel.  Friar Jude notes that we need to view our guardian angel as a spiritual aid rather than a border collie that leads us along the road.

Fr. Mike Schmitz continues reading from the book of Nehemiah as we read of the many attempts to prevent Nehemiah from doing the great work of God. We also see the events that lead to Esther being chosen as queen and the goodness she will bring even in the midst of a broken system. Today’s readings are Nehemiah 6-7, Esther 1-2, and Proverbs 21:1-4.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Michele Dunne, who is the Executive Director of the Franciscan Action Network, an organization that seeks to embody Franciscan values in their work for justice for the earth and the poor. [1] In a recent issue of CAC’s the Mendicant donor newsletter, Dunne describes her deepening understanding of Franciscan witness.

For example, while I had always understood Jesus’s teaching to “take up your cross and follow me” simply as a call to bear patiently with the suffering inherent in daily life, I came to a totally different understanding after a long, frigid day spent at a climate protest in December 2019. Rereading the story (in Mark 8, Matthew 16, and Luke 9) at the urging of my friend and teacher the Rev. John Dear, I suddenly understood that Jesus was not speaking about patience with everyday suffering. As he faced escalating pressure—including from his friends—to stop speaking out against injustice, Jesus made it crystal clear that following him would require self-sacrifice, inconvenience, and possibly danger. How could I have missed that before? Maybe this new way of hearing was what “life to gospel” meant. 

The Franciscan path keeps the challenges coming but also supplies companions for the way. In 2021, I left a longtime career to join the Franciscan Action Network, where we are building an intergenerational movement for justice, peace, and creation rooted in the gospel and the examples of St. Francis and St. Clare. Our dozens of Franciscan Justice Circles across the country meet monthly in small groups, where we pray and take action together, discovering over and over again what it means to go from gospel to life and life to gospel. (Rohr, n.d.)

When my three year old grandaughter was setting the table for supper and she put out a placemat for her and her six year old brother who was going to join us later, it dawned on me how we learn to exclude and how blessed I was to receive her example of the Jesus exhortation to become as little children to experience the fullness of life.

References

Exodus, CHAPTER 23. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 2, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/exodus/23? 

Matthew, CHAPTER 18. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved October 2, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/18?1 

Meditation on Matthew 18:1-5, 10. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved October 2, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/10/01/1399013/ 

Psalms, PSALM 91 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved October 2, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/91?1 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Daily Meditations — Center for Action and Contemplation. CAC.org. Retrieved October 2, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/gospel-to-life-and-life-to-gospel/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Their Angels Behold the Father in Heaven. Daily Scripture Net. Retrieved October 2, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=oct2a 

Shirley, N. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved October 2, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-october-2-2025 

Set Things Right

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to act on the injustice we witness and stand with Christ to help the “widows and orphans” of our political and social systems.

Working to set it Right

In the reading from the Prophet Isaiah, the people are instructed to set things right.

* [1:2–31] This chapter is widely considered to be a collection of oracles from various periods in Isaiah’s ministry, chosen by the editor as a compendium of his most characteristic teachings.

* [1:18–20] Let us set things right: the Hebrew word refers to the arbitration of legal disputes (Jb 23:7). God offers to settle his case with Israel on the basis of the change of behavior demanded above. For Israel it is a life or death choice; life in conformity with God’s will or death for continued disobedience.

(Isaiah, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 50 praises the Acceptable Sacrifice

* [Psalm 50] A covenant lawsuit stating that the sacrifice God really wants is the sacrifice of praise accompanied by genuine obedience (cf. Mi 6:1–8). It begins with a theophany and the summoning of the court (Ps 50:1–6). Then in direct address God explains what is required of the faithful (Ps 50:7–15), rebukes the hypocritical worshiper (Ps 50:16–21), and concludes with a threat and a promise (Ps 50:22–23; cf. Is 1:19–20).(Psalms, PSALM 50 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus Denounces Scribes and Pharisees.

* [23:1–39] The final section of the narrative part of the fifth book of the gospel is a denunciation by Jesus of the scribes and the Pharisees (see note on Mt 3:7). It depends in part on Mark and Q (cf. Mk 12:38–39; Lk 11:37–52; 13:34–35), but in the main it is peculiar to Matthew. (For the reasons against considering this extensive body of sayings-material either as one of the structural discourses of this gospel or as part of the one that follows in Mt 24–25, see note on Mt 19:1–23:39.) While the tradition of a deep opposition between Jesus and the Pharisees is well founded, this speech reflects an opposition that goes beyond that of Jesus’ ministry and must be seen as expressing the bitter conflict between Pharisaic Judaism and the church of Matthew at the time when the gospel was composed. The complaint often made that the speech ignores the positive qualities of Pharisaism and of its better representatives is true, but the complaint overlooks the circumstances that gave rise to the invective. Nor is the speech purely anti-Pharisaic. The evangelist discerns in his church many of the same faults that he finds in its opponents and warns his fellow Christians to look to their own conduct and attitudes.(Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB, n.d.)

Sara Schulte-Bukowinski comments that Lent is a time for introspection, simplicity, and sacrifice. 

It is a time to ask God to help me turn my heart yet again, and reform me in God’s own ways. In this season I am reminded that a middle ground is more difficult than an extreme. It doesn’t have the gratifying self-righteousness of absolute discipline, or the gratifying luxury of self-indulgence. The middle doesn’t feel “washed clean.” Yet this is where I believe God meets us. (Schulte-Bukowinski, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “Who are the proud?” by Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"Who are the proud? Those who do not perform penance and confess their sins in order to be healed through humility. Who are the proud? Those who attribute to themselves the few good qualities they seem to possess and endeavor to diminish the mercy of God. Who are the proud? Those who, while attributing to God the good they accomplish, insult others for not performing such works and raise themselves above them." (Commentary on Psalm 93, 15)(Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 asks how are you going to love your neighbor during this Lent? Maybe you can help in the soup kitchen at your parish or donate some of your clothes to the needy. The options are endless!

During this season in which we turn our hearts to the Lord, let’s make it a priority to love our neighbor. Let’s make justice our aim so that “the orphan’s plea” does not go unnoticed and “the widow” does not remain alone (Isaiah 1:17). Let’s imitate Jesus’ love so that we can produce the fruit of joy, peace, and mercy.

“Lord, help me to turn my heart to you by loving others as you love me!”

(Meditation on Isaiah 1:10, 16-20, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler notes how the early chapters of Isaiah address social injustice referring to widows and orphans in a manner similar to Amos. The “loose and bind” power of the Pharisees had become an over-scrupulous interpretation of the Law and presentation of their position in their visible tassels and phylacteries. Friar Jude reminds us of the message to be humble and avoid pride and arrogance.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Biblical scholar Ched Myers who writes of the prominence of immigrants in the Scriptures. The Gospel writers portray Jesus as a refugee in need of hospitality.

The gospel story begins with Jesus’ family fleeing violence as political refugees, pushed around Palestine by the imperial forces of Caesar and Herod (Matthew 2; Luke 2). The adult Jesus not only characterizes himself as homeless (“the Human One has nowhere to lay his head,” Luke 9:58), but stateless. “My kingdom is not of this world,” he says before the Roman procurator (John 18:36). The evangelists also portray Jesus as a constant recipient of hospitality who sometimes even “invites himself in” (see, for example, Luke 19:5). [2] (Richard Rohr, n.d.)

 

We witness the persecution of the “other” as rampant in our world and implore the Spirit to arouse our courage and faith to stand in solidarity with the oppressed and rejected.

References

Isaiah, CHAPTER 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved March 18, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/1?10 

Matthew, CHAPTER 23 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved March 18, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/23?1 

Meditation on Isaiah 1:10, 16-20. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved March 18, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/03/18/1228702/ 

Psalms, PSALM 50 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved March 18, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/50?8 

Richard Rohr. (n.d.). Welcoming Strangers in Scripture. CAC Daily Meditations. Retrieved March 18, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/welcoming-strangers-in-scripture/ 

Schulte-Bukowinski, S. (n.d.). Daily Reflection Of Creighton University's Online Ministries. Creighton University's Online Ministries. Retrieved March 18, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/031825.html 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings. dailyscripture.net. Retrieved March 18, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=mar18