Always be child-like

This is what Christ wants us to be. "Let the children come to me," he said. "Do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." (Mk10,14-15)

To be sure, it's not a call to be childish, as in being whimsy, capricious, thoughtless. Rather we are asked to be humble and simple, full of trust in the authorities especially in the providence of God, and eager to believe in what is good, precisely like a child whose worries are few, not deep and lasting.

We must remember that Christ also said that even while we have to be simple and innocent like doves, we should also be shrewd and clever like serpents. (cfr Mt 10,16) We must find ways on how we can blend these contrasting qualities together.

To be child-like is to have a lot of faith in God. It is to be led more by that faith than by our merely human estimation of things. It is to accept whatever happens in our life but always confident that God never abandons us and is leading us to him through the ups and downs of our life.

To be child-like is to have a pure and innocent heart,incapable of malice, ambition, pride and arrogance. It is to have the confidence that, even our defects and mistakes, if immediately referred to God, do not really matter much.

To be child-like is to be transparent, simple and sincere,unafraid to be known as they really are, warts and all. The knowledge and vast experience they gain in life do not alter their simplicity,which negates neither prudence nor discretion.

To be child-like is to be welcoming to suggestions and corrections. These do not make them feel humiliated, but thankful. It is to be teachable, flexible and docile. When one is child-like, he can be told anything and he tends to believe and obey. Attainments, achievements and successes do not spoil him. Neither do difficulties, temptations and failures crush them and plunge them to sadness or bitterness.

To be child-like is to be easily motivated and consoled; to be optimistic despite problems and difficulties.

Falls and mistakes are easily forgotten. To be child-like is to be disposed to see things as they are,either self-evident natural truths or highly mysterious supernatural realities. What is not understood is simply accepted and believed, relying simply on the recommendation of parents and elders.

To be child-like is to capture the spirit of the beatitudes, where being poor in spirit, meek or in a state of mourning, pure of heart but persecuted, insulted and the like are no big problem, but occasions to go closer to God.

We must reinforce our need to be child-like. We are easily carried away by today's world forces that pressure us to leave behind our being like a child and become complicated to tackle complicated issues and situations of the times.

That's always a strong temptation to us because, as they say, it would take a thief to catch a thief. Let us remember that to untangle the knots of our times, we must be simple,always going to God for any problem-solving. That's because to be complicated to un-complicate complicated things would just make things worse, not so much for others as for oneself.

To be child-like knows how to abandon oneself in the handsof God irrespective of the sacrifices involved!