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Click here for information on the Knights of Columbus Charity Golf Tournament held on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
Most of today’s Gospel speaks about marriage and divorce. Good topics but maybe not as important in this parish where anyone married less than 50 years is a “newly wed.” And with the Pope’s recent proclamation streamlining the process of securing an annulment, we could talk about divorce. But again, for many of us that is something that only affects children or grandchildren. Then, stuck at the very end of the Gospel are four short sentences that we might not even pay attention to, in fact the Lectionary lets us eliminate them if we want a shorter version of the Gospel. But that is a shame because there are some very important truths in those four sentences for us, our children, and everyone we come in contact with.
Why did Christ want his apostles to let these children come to him? Because he wanted to bless them. The word “blessing”takes its root in the Latin verb benedicere, to speak well of someone or something. So, to bless someone is to speak well of him or her. But this involves a special form of “speaking well.” To bless someone means through some word, gesture, or ritual, to make that person aware that because they were created by God they are good, very good; that God takes great delight in them and that we who are giving the blessing recognize that goodness and that we take great delight in them. So much of our hunger is a hunger for blessing. So much of our aching is the ache to be blessed. So much of our sadness comes from the fact that no one has ever taken delight in us.
The very last sentence in today’s Gospel is the key. Jesus wants those children to know He sees them, that they are special, and to show this He embraces them. And those children knew they had been blessed because they had been seen by Christ. To really see someone, especially someone who looks up to you, is to give that person an important blessing. Often it is not important that we say much to those for whom we are significant, but it is very important that we see them. See them as who they are: beloved children of God.
There is a deep longing inside each of us to be seen by those we look up to - our parents, our leaders, our teachers, our pastors, and our bosses. It is crucial to us, more than we generally imagine, that those who are important to us look at us, see us, recognize us. That we matter. You could see that throughout Pope Francis’visit. People didn’t care about having a deep conversation with him, they just wanted to be seen by him. Good Popes see their flock; good parents see their kids; good teachers see their students; good pastors see their parishioners; good coaches see their players; good bosses see their employees; and in good restaurants the owner comes around to the tables and sees his or her customers. And the customers are, without being able to explain why, grateful that the owner took the time and trouble to see them. They leave a little happier. We are blessed by being seen.
If we want to evangelize others, and we are all called to do that, we have to first see them. See them as who they are, God’s children, loved by Him. When we take food baskets at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter; when we help out at Samaritan Ministries, Jackson House, Potter’s Clay; when we visit the sick, the homebound; when Helping Hands assists people; when we prepare food for a funeral; when we reach out to help the less fortunate; we are not just taking food, giving money, providing companionship. We are seeing, truly seeing others and we are blessing them. Regardless of what material things they needed, their deepest hunger and need was to be seen, and that is what we are called to do. And that is a blessing. “And then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.” May God look down on each of us today, may He see us, smile on us and bless us. Amen.
Why did Christ want his apostles to let these children come to him? Because he wanted to bless them. The word “blessing”takes its root in the Latin verb benedicere, to speak well of someone or something. So, to bless someone is to speak well of him or her. But this involves a special form of “speaking well.” To bless someone means through some word, gesture, or ritual, to make that person aware that because they were created by God they are good, very good; that God takes great delight in them and that we who are giving the blessing recognize that goodness and that we take great delight in them. So much of our hunger is a hunger for blessing. So much of our aching is the ache to be blessed. So much of our sadness comes from the fact that no one has ever taken delight in us.
The very last sentence in today’s Gospel is the key. Jesus wants those children to know He sees them, that they are special, and to show this He embraces them. And those children knew they had been blessed because they had been seen by Christ. To really see someone, especially someone who looks up to you, is to give that person an important blessing. Often it is not important that we say much to those for whom we are significant, but it is very important that we see them. See them as who they are: beloved children of God.
There is a deep longing inside each of us to be seen by those we look up to - our parents, our leaders, our teachers, our pastors, and our bosses. It is crucial to us, more than we generally imagine, that those who are important to us look at us, see us, recognize us. That we matter. You could see that throughout Pope Francis’visit. People didn’t care about having a deep conversation with him, they just wanted to be seen by him. Good Popes see their flock; good parents see their kids; good teachers see their students; good pastors see their parishioners; good coaches see their players; good bosses see their employees; and in good restaurants the owner comes around to the tables and sees his or her customers. And the customers are, without being able to explain why, grateful that the owner took the time and trouble to see them. They leave a little happier. We are blessed by being seen.
If we want to evangelize others, and we are all called to do that, we have to first see them. See them as who they are, God’s children, loved by Him. When we take food baskets at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter; when we help out at Samaritan Ministries, Jackson House, Potter’s Clay; when we visit the sick, the homebound; when Helping Hands assists people; when we prepare food for a funeral; when we reach out to help the less fortunate; we are not just taking food, giving money, providing companionship. We are seeing, truly seeing others and we are blessing them. Regardless of what material things they needed, their deepest hunger and need was to be seen, and that is what we are called to do. And that is a blessing. “And then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.” May God look down on each of us today, may He see us, smile on us and bless us. Amen.