Sunday Gospel reflections: Teach children, trust God

Whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19)

Passing on the faith has so many different facets. You want to be able to share an important part of your life with your children. You want them to be happy, and if anything is essential to happiness, it is having a sense of your place in the world. You want them to be assured of salvation through Jesus Christ.

But “teaching” is not browbeating or haranguing or needling. Children need to be taught, and then they need to grow up and choose for themselves. Surely, parents of adults remember teaching their children how much God loves them, how the Holy Spirit will never abandon them, how Jesus came to bring all of us life to the full. May we remember what we have taught and been taught, and take comfort in the knowledge of God’s great love for us.

Lord, may the love between parents and children grow and bear fruit in faithfulness — in all of us.

 — Mark Neilsen

Readings:

Sirach 15:15-20

Psalm 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34

1 Corinthians 2:6-10

Matthew 5:17-37 or 5:20-22A, 27-28, 33-34A, 37