Text: Mark 10:13-16 (see below)
“Jolly old Saint Nicholas lean your ear this way…” December 6 is the traditional feast day of one of the most famous of saints: Nicholas of Myra. There may be no such thing as Santa Claus, but there was certainly a Saint Nicholas. Made a bishop of the Church in the fourth century, Nicholas loved his Lord and ministered to the betterment of his neighbors. There are numerous stories and legends about Saint Nick. Some say that he was present and participated at the Council of Nicea in 325 CE. Other legends recount his raising from the dead three boys who had been murdered by a wicked innkeeper and buried in a tub of brine. My favorite tale concerns three young women who were unmarried and did not have suitable dowries. At that time, no dowry meant that a woman was likely to end up as a prostitute or worse. Nicholas appeared for three consecutive nights and under the cover of darkness threw a bag of gold in through a window of the house. The three young ladies were saved, all married, and as the story goes, lived happily ever after!
Saint Nicholas has always been a hit with children and as our lesson from Mark’s Gospel indicates, Jesus was fond of young people as well: “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
Sometimes we adults take ourselves far too seriously and forget this wonderful statement of Jesus that we are to become like children in order to receive the Kingdom of God. When I was serving a parish in North Carolina, a mother and her young son would come weekly to the altar to receive communion. Each week, when I asked if the child would like to receive the bread, the mother would politely shake her head no. I would offer the wafer to her and proceed down the rail. I noticed that the mother would break off a piece of her wafer and offer it to her son. This went on for months. Finally, one Sunday, after the same routine had occurred, I continued down the rail serving communion to others when the young child said in a voice heard around the church: “Why do I always get the small piece?!” Children understand mystery much better than we adults.
In my walk with the Lord this Advent, can I recover part of my childhood, that innocence, that ability to embrace wonder and understand mystery? Help me Lord, this Advent to receive your Kingdom like a child.
Love One Another - Brian
More and More Demands
Thomas Hoffman
More and more things are demanding our time and energy. More shopping. More travel. More planning. Pressure builds, and it is increasingly difficult to find quiet time for our Advent-life. As we brush elbows with more and more people who are more and more anxious for the season, we hear again our call to simplicity.
The great mystery this Advent is that our personal holiness touches the lives of all those with whom we come into contact. When we are made holy as individuals, it is the whole world that reaps the reward.
Source: A Child in Winter
Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
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