Tuesday – First Week of Advent

Gospel – Luke10:21-24

Out of the Mouths of Children

Entering the Old City, Jerusalem

Let me tell you about Skye!  Skye is a little 9 year old girl and her family is part of our Native St. Kateri community.  She has a younger sister Sofie and a little brother Phoenix.  It has been an amazing blessing for me that I baptized all three of these little ones!  In fact, Skye was my very first Baptism after ordination.  Needless to say, the family is near and dear to my heart! 

When we gathered recently for Mass at St. Kateri, we were all sitting around and chatting.  And I asked Skye about her Christmas list from Santa.  How many pages?  How many gifts she wanted for Christmas?  And her response?  Yes, I do have a couple of things on my list.  But really, I don’t need or want anything.  I have my health and I have my family!  What more could I want?

Out of the mouths of children!  Such wisdom and insight from one so young!  They see and hear so much more than we realize!  They know and understand so much and so quickly.  Consider too Skye’s parents!  Consider what a loving, compassionate and gracious mom and dad they are to have a daughter who sees and shares their wisdom and faith! The story speaks not only of a daughter open to the message of her parents but also of the parents who are willing to share their experience and faith with their children.

Jesus reminds us in today’s Gospel that no matter our age or our seeming ‘wisdom’, there is part of us that we need to keep childlike – to keep that sense of wonder and joy over little things, to laugh at the trials of life and not allow them to rule our mood or our relationships.  To keep that willingness to learn from our parents (our Father in heaven)!  To keep that humbling and trusting and teachable faith in God, to recognize how much we depend on Him for our life and to express our gratitude and love for Him in our daily life!

I can’t begin to imagine that I can fully understand God.  But I can come to experience Him, to become acquainted with Him, to develop a relationship with Him.  Advent would be a good time to work on that relationship, to work on learning and listening to Our Father!  

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