Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus emphasizes that, no matter what we do, endure, or become as Christians, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven without becoming like little children. Why is this childlikeness an indispensable requirement to enter the kingdom of God?
We must become childlike to enter the kingdom of heaven because Jesus Christ came to save us in and through childlikeness. In His infinite wisdom, power, and love, Jesus chose to come to us as a child, as Isaiah prophesied, “For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon His shoulder dominion rests.” We, too, must approach Jesus along the same path that He chose to come to us, and this path is that of childlikeness.
Childlikeness becomes the pathway for us to approach Jesus and receive all the blessings and graces that He brings to us, especially the gift of His peace; “They name Him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace” (Is. 9:1-6). We possess and communicate peace only through childlikeness, for “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Mt. 5:9). We cannot approach Jesus Christ and receive His gifts and blessings without embracing the path of childlikeness, by which He chose to come to us.
There are three sure ways in which we can cultivate this childlikeness:
1. See all things with gratitude.
We see all the good that we have as gifts from God, offered to us in Jesus Christ, as St. Paul attested, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has bestowed on us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before Him” (Eph. 1:3-6). All the graces that we have, along with our desire for holiness and heaven, are all gifts from God.
Seeing all the good in us as gifts, we become truly hopeful that God will give us all that we need to be faithful to Him and to enter the heavenly kingdom. We express our sincere thanks to God for His gifts, and we do not get discouraged when we fall short. We strive to make good use of all these gifts for His greater glory, and we refuse to abuse His gifts or take them for granted.
2. Be humble and obedient.
When Jesus’ disciples asked Him who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus did not give names but pointed to the attitude of humility that obeys God in all things. He called a child to Him, and the child obediently came. Then Jesus declared that the way to heaven is to humbly obey Him as the little child did, saying, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
We humbly obey God and those whom God has placed in authority over us in the family, Church, and world. We obey because we have experienced God’s deep love for us in our nothingness. We obey because Jesus also chose this path of humble obedience throughout His earthly life, because “He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them” (Lk. 2:51).
3. Trust and depend on God.
Jesus attested that God is always looking at each of His children. We children of God can look with unbounded trust at God because He is always looking at us with deep love; “I tell you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father” (Mt. 18:10). He knows us completely, as well as what we are going through at any given moment of our lives.
This is why we never give up on our prayer, spiritual life, or vocation. We can commune with God at any time, bringing to Him all our spiritual and material needs. We can live in God’s presence and listen to His words to us always. We do not depend on our strengths, achievements, or abilities.
Childishness vs. Childlikeness
My dear brothers and sisters, we are called to be childlike to enter the kingdom of heaven. This means that we must face and renounce the many ways in which we are acting childishly. We cannot nurture childlikeness and still give in to childish ways.
We are childish when we are focused on only what is pleasing and acceptable to us, when we are so preoccupied with our wants that we don’t care about the rights and feelings of others. Childishness also diminishes our gratitude and makes us live with an unbridled entitlement mentality. It also makes us hold onto our own ideas and opinions so tightly that we just cannot obey God and legitimate authority. We cannot take failure or opposition when we are childish. We stop trusting God when we face trials and challenges.
In our childishness, we take God’s gifts for granted and fail to make good use of them. We cannot trust God because we are holding onto our own plans, timetables, agendas, etc. We cannot obey human authority because we lack true humility. We lose our peace and get angry when we do not get our way, or when things don’t work out as we expected them to. Ultimately, childish persons cannot approach God and receive His gifts.
The Christ Child, Born of the Virgin
Jesus Christ chose to come to us in childlikeness, and He did so through the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the womb of Mary, He showed the depth of His humility and obedience to the Father. As an infant in her womb, Jesus chose to depend on Mary completely for all His nourishment and growth. In her womb, He showed His deep gratitude to the Father for all His gifts. The Letter to the Hebrews has Him saying at the moment of the Incarnation, “When Christ came into the world, He said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me’” (Heb. 10:5).
If Jesus came to us in childlikeness through Mary, shouldn’t we also go in childlikeness to Jesus through Mary? Didn’t Jesus tell us that He sends us just as the Father has sent Him? (See John 20:21.) The Blessed Virgin Mary becomes the key to our own childlikeness in imitation of Jesus Christ. As our spiritual mother, she shares with us her deep gratitude, humble obedience, and unshakable trust in God. What type of children are we if we have no iota of love for the one through whom Jesus chose to come to us? Let us also know Mary, love her, obey her, and depend on her as Jesus did, so that we can also be formed in childlikeness in her spiritual womb.
Jesus continues to come to us in childlikeness and with amazing gifts and blessings through each Eucharist. Through Mary and with Mary, let us also approach Him in childlikeness so that we can receive the gifts that He alone offers to those who are truly childlike, especially the gift of His peace.
Glory to Jesus!!! Honor to Mary!!!
