Such as These!

Saturday, May 25, 2024

Jas 5:13-20; Mk 10: 13-16

Today’s Gospel highlights the fact that the acceptance of the Kingdom begins with the acceptance of the marginalized.

It shows how Jesus encourages the disciples to accept children because, in their ‘nobodiness’, they become God’s own preferred people.

The use of the phrase ‘such as these’ is profoundly insightful because it points beyond the community of children to neglected humanity. 

The phrase indicates the humanity that is often ‘rebuked’ by society. 

As such, Jesus encourages the disciples to not only accept the children but also those who have been deprived of social recognition.

Hence, the passage that apparently talks about accepting the Kingdom like children extends the scope to include marginalized humanity as well. 

Because the marginalized personify the Kingdom, embracing them is equivalent to embracing the Kingdom of God itself. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar