Fr. Paul D. Scalia: Receiving Christ in a Child

The young G. K. Chesterton once wrote a bit of doggerel that captures his love of the Christ-child and of childhood in general:

I would say to all parents
Do you take things equally
How do you know that you are not
In the place of Joseph and Mary.

Of course, those two things are profoundly related. Childhood wasn’t valued until God became a child. The ancient world didn’t have the same affection or sentimentality for children that we have. In both Aramaic and Greek, the word for child was the same as for servant. It’s not that the world thought children were delightful, and so God became a child. It’s rather that by becoming a child, God sanctified childhood and children.

This gives us a way to approach and understand Jesus’ gentle and haunting words in today’s Gospel, “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” (Mark 9:30-37) If our society hears these words at all, it interprets them in a sentimental manner. Children are so cute, and they say the darnedest things. It’s sweet that Jesus takes their side, etc. ….