We participate in the childhood of Jesus by being childlike

The Childhood of Jesus is an active devotion in the Catholic Church for nearly a 1000 year. The Church always showed a deep reverence to the Child Jesus. Many saints are seen carrying the Child Jesus such as St. Athanasius, St. Jerome, St. Bernard, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Anthony. The history so used to witnessing a God as almighty, powerful, tall and wise ‘Father’, child Jesus seem to give us a different lesson altogether. Advent and Christmas seasons have a deep impact on us in projecting Jesus as the Infant.

Among the numerous interpretations on today’s gospel what fascinates me most is the way each sentence is constructed. This reading is one of the public prayers of Jesus directed to His disciples. Jesus first thanks God for revealing Himself to the childlike. This quality of being childlike is followed by the intimacy between Father and Son. The conclusion is the most interesting where Jesus claims that the revelation is actually through Him. In theory we read two different revelations in the same gospel.

We qualify to receive the revelation from God only when we take part in the childlike quality of Jesus. One of the unsurpassable qualities of being childlike is the quality of the sense of wonder in children. For children the world is filled with surprises. Everything surprises them. They wonder at how powerful their father is; they wonder at how creative Mickey Mouse or other cartoon shows are. Sense of wonder is also a sure sign of simple faith and dependency.

Let us pray that we continue to live like children, participating in the childlike quality of Jesus. In this way Jesus continues to reveal the Father’s Heart since Jesus is the fullness of all that God is and does. Amen.