“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3.)
Origen of Alexandria (part 2 of Pope Benedict’s reflections on Origen) comments on this verse from the Gospel proclaimed at Mass today:
”Beside this obvious explanation let another be given as well. As an act of theological and ethical reflection, let us ask what sort of a child Jesus called to him and has set in the midst of the disciples. Think of it this way: The child called by Jesus is the Holy Spirit, who humbled himself. He was called by the Savior and set in the middle of the disciples of Jesus. The Lord wants us, ignoring all the rest, to turn to the examples given by the Holy Spirit, so that we become like the children — that is, the disciples — who were themselves converted and made like the Holy Spirit. God gave these children to the Savior according to what we read in Isaiah: “Behold, I and the children whom the Lord has given me.” To enter the kingdom of heaven is not possible for the person who has not turned from worldly matters and become like those children who had the Holy Spirit. Jesus called this Holy Spirit to him like a child, when he came down from his perfect completeness to people, and set it in the middle of the disciples.” (Commentary on Matthew, 13)
Collect
O God,
Who filled the Priest and Martyr
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
with a burning love
for the Immaculate Virgin Mary
and with zeal for souls and love of neighbor,
graciously grant,
through his intercession,
that, striving for Your glory
by eagerly serving others,
we may be conformed,
even until death, to Your Son.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Who filled the Priest and Martyr
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
with a burning love
for the Immaculate Virgin Mary
and with zeal for souls and love of neighbor,
graciously grant,
through his intercession,
that, striving for Your glory
by eagerly serving others,
we may be conformed,
even until death, to Your Son.
Who lives and reigns with You
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory to the Father
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen
