Children are god's living presence among us
(republishing, copying, no restrictions)
By: Father Shay
There is a most beautiful, disturbing, and inspiring passage from the New Testament (Luke 9:46-50) in which we see how Jesus is fed up with the bickering and arguing among the twelve disciples as to which of them was the greatest. They were jealous of each other, vying and jostling for positions of influence. It was a rivalry well remembered in the early Christian community and the story is repeated in Mark 9:33-37.
Many Christians are shocked when they read these passages and learn of such human weakness among the most revered of the saints, the twelve apostles. They were in fact very ordinary fishermen and tradesmen. Matthew and Judas were perhaps the most educated of the twelve. The rest would not have had the equivalent of an elementary education. The basic education of a poor fisherman's son in Palestine in the time of Jesus was limited to a Sabbath school hour with the local rabbi. They learned their trade as an apprentice to their father or a relative. For centuries education was the privilege of the rich.
Choosing poor people as the first disciples is a shining moment of revelation. That God would choose the poor to uplift the dignity of human kind, share his love for everyone and make the offer of salvation through them is stunning. Jesus did not surround himself with theologians, philosophers and wealthy elite to give his message credibility. His choosing of the poor to do it is the message itself.
The greatest revelation the world has ever known is that God loves us with understanding, compassion, forgiveness and offers us redemption once we turn and commit ourselves to Him and His commandment to love others as we would want to be loved by others.
The dignity and the human rights of every individual is enshrined in the person of Jesus and he has identified himself with us. He entrusted for safekeeping and dissemination to the world this legacy of love through simple fisher folk. Thereby declaring God's preferential option for throes deprived by the process of power grabbing and greed. Poverty is a human invention and we are challenged to support the oppressed and the abused be one with them and thereby one with Jesus.
It was this powerful revolutionary message that empowers the poor with a new realization that they are God's people, they are important and no more should be the cast always and the downtrodden of this world.
Jesus called for the spiritual and social transformation of society so the wretched of the earth would become it's possessors equally with all. His sermon on the mount sealed forever the dignity of the poor but throughout history it has largely been ignored by the rich and unknown by the poor. They themselves have been deprived of the good news and not know of their right to be liberated from the slavery of economic exploitation, ignorance and marginialization.
This is because the control of the world's resources and their use lie in the hand of a few very powerful people. It was this situation that Jesus came to confront and redeem. As it was then so it is today, only much worse.
Yet the few, like the rich young man who wanted so much to be considered saved, justified and an icon of virtue fell flat at the most important challenge of all. He was blind, unable to see the presence of Jesus in the suffering of the poor. Incapable of overcome class-consciousness and a sense of overpowering privilege and superiority.
A person so weighed down with wealth hadn't the strength or shame or the guilt to unload it and share. He could've become agent of change and be a responsible person of wealth changing the lives of the poor. God calls us for a deep transformation rooted in compassion and true concern. God does not want a few paltry pounds or dollars to smooth the trouble conscience of the super rich. God wants the super ability that made the rich to be dedicated to the cause of the poor.
In this world that has by enlarge forgotten the dignity bestowed by Jesus on the poor even children are considered pests, prostitutes and dispensable through abortion and if born, then they are put work as soon as they can walk.
The word and example of Jesus challenges us to get on side and stand in solidarity with the poor and the defenseless and calls us to work as he did for peace equality because we are all God's family.
His stand for universal recognition, affirmation of those considered non-persons endeared him to the crowds of ragged nobodies. He made them somebody and they loved him for it. He made each of us important too, and even if we feel misunderstood, rejected, and under appreciated by our family or society remember he went through all that and understands, cares and heals. We are loved with a great love. [to be continued]
