Family Life Children Mk. 10:14 –15
Jesus said that only children – or those who are like them – will enter the kingdom of God. Unlike adults, children are not divided, dualistic beings. They are one whole; they are vulnerable; they are wholly dependent on father and mother. Christ calls us to become like children, and this means we must drop everything and become completely dependent on God and on one another.
if we as parents love God with all our heart and soul, cf. Mt. 18:3 – 6
our children will have the right reverence for us, and we will also have reverence for our children and for the wonderful mystery of becoming and being a child. Reverence for the spirit that moves between parent and child is the basic element of a true family life.
Mt. 18:1 – 3
the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, set him in front of them, and said, ‘I tell you this: unless you turn around and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’” *For this chapter extensive use has been made of the author’s pamphlet The Purity of Childhood (Plough, 1974).