Reading: From the Gospel according to St. Matthew 18: 1-11
Dear and Respected Brethren,
When the blessed Apostles enquired our Lord, “who is the greatest in
the Kingdom of God”, our Lord showed a child and said “unless you turn
and become as little children, you will not inherit the heaven”. The
blessed Apostles also thought as we all do think these days. Our
lookout is also prominence and the modern man is willing to do
anything needed to achieve the attention as well as the recognition of
others. Our Lord’s command to convert/turn is very significant and
meaningful. The common human nature is to ignore the dependence when
there is growth in the personality. The child in his or her infancy
only would like to hold the hands of elders while walking. Afterwards,
they will not wait for the help from elders. Either they will run away
or walk as they like. During the infancy, there is the uniqueness in
all dealings and thinking. Innocence and transparency are the ideals
of an infant and when he or she grows big, slowly these habits
disappear from them. Elders are walking in the directions they like
and desire. They must be depending their own brain, power, and
desires. Our Lord wants us to turn back with  a total “about turn”
from the paths and ways of our choice. He wants us to hold His finger
and walk ahead. We might say that we are going ahead with an aim of
our destination. But how many of us could bravely say that we give
prime importance to the will and wish of our Lord God? Our Lord is so
sure that our ways and directions are far away from the ways and
directions of our Lord God. That is why He is insisting us to turn
back and come back to the original position where we lost our link
with our Lord God. Let us examine ourselves daily whether we are
keeping a steadfast link with our Lord God or not.
In verse 4 we read, “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this
little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven”. We
are sure of the humility of the infant. For an infant all before him
or her are equal. We must consider all our brethren without any sort
of discrimination. Our Lord again desires that we all must love our
fellowmen alike. Let us analyze how we are treating with our own
fellowmen.
In verse 6 our Lord cautions against the ones who create offences in
society. We often ignore our Lord’s teaching and go after offences in
the families, parishes, churches and other secular fields also. Let us
remember that a true Christian should not create offences at all. We
the faithful must try to get back the guys who often create offences,
through the love of our Lord. Selfishness is the root cause of all
sorts of offences and sins. So let us try to get rid of selfishness in
its root level.
In verse 11 we read, “For the son of man is come to save that which
was lost”. Searching of the lost sheep is the duty of the Church. The
Church and Church leadership cannot escape from this task. We must
co-operate with the Church to search the lost sheep. All members of
the Church must find it a privilege to search the fellowmen, who have
been lost for the Church for some or other reasons. We must realize
that Lord Jesus is the real shepherd and He only could provide
shelter, food and other needs.

May God bless all.

Jose Kurian Puliyeril
Kottayam