Daily Liturgy
Monday September 27
TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
LIKE CHILDREN
Introduction
Today’s chapter of Zechariah is a later addition by his disciples. It pictures the restoration of a remnant, with faithful people, young and old, in the streets of Jerusalem, and God living among them.
Childlike, but not childish… We are God’s children, yet not infants. We have to grow up constantly to the maturity of Christ, to remake with the help of the Spirit, our unity, the center of ourselves.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
your Son Jesus Christ became a child of people.
He made children the privileged symbol
of the truly adult disciple.
May we have the openness and receptivity
of the child: humble, authentic,
and open to your love and to your gifts.
For only then will you fill our emptiness
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Reading 1: Zec 8:1-8
This word of the LORD of hosts came:
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
I am intensely jealous for Zion,
stirred to jealous wrath for her.
Thus says the LORD:
I will return to Zion,
and I will dwell within Jerusalem;
Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city,
and the mountain of the LORD of hosts,
the holy mountain.
Thus says the LORD of hosts: Old men and old women,
each with staff in hand because of old age,
shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem.
The city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in its streets.
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Even if this should seem impossible
in the eyes of the remnant of this people,
shall it in those days be impossible in my eyes also,
says the LORD of hosts?
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Lo, I will rescue my people from the land of the rising sun,
and from the land of the setting sun.
I will bring them back to dwell within Jerusalem.
They shall be my people, and I will be their God,
with faithfulness and justice.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 102:16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23
(17) The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the destitute,
and not despised their prayer.
R. The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
“The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die.”
R. The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.
The children of your servants shall abide,
and their posterity shall continue in your presence.
That the name of the LORD may be declared in Zion;
and his praise, in Jerusalem,
When the peoples gather together,
and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
R. The Lord will build up Zion again, and appear in all his glory.
Alleluia: Mk 10:45
Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man came to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Lk 9:46-50
An argument arose among the disciples
about which of them was the greatest.
Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child
and placed it by his side and said to them,
“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
For the one who is least among all of you
is the one who is the greatest.”
Then John said in reply,
“Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name
and we tried to prevent him
because he does not follow in our company.”
Jesus said to him,
“Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”
Intercessions
– For those who are the greatest in the Church, that they may serve with great dedication and without looking down on them the weakest, the poorest, those wounded in life, we pray:
– For the mighty of this earth, that they may care about the rights, the dignity and the well-being of especially the lowliest under their charge, we pray:
– For those who work in lowly jobs shunned by others, for those who have unhealthy and dangerous tasks, for those who care for the old and the handicapped, that we may appreciate them and that the Lord may reward them, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord God, we come before you
with our human wisdom:
self-assured, sophisticated, and world-wise.
Make us see, Lord,
that we have to accept your wisdom,
the wisdom of trust and simplicity,
the wisdom that is hard to fully accept,
the wisdom of Jesus crucified.
Only then are we ready to accept
a God who became man and dwells among us,
Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Our God and Father,
we are your sons and daughters, your children,
and you are our Father.
May we all grow up
to the full maturity of Jesus Christ,
for this is your wish, Father,
that we retain the openness to you of the child,
yet that we reach the full adulthood
of Jesus Christ, God like you,
yet your loyal Son and fully human.
He is our Savior for ever.
Blessing
“Whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me, says Jesus.” Let us love children and learn from them; forget the ridiculous competition to be the greatest. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
Zechariah is a prophet of exceptional imagery. Yahweh again speaks of his return to Jerusalem, the holy mountain, the faithful city. He then presents a picture of heart-warming domesticity. Anyone who has visited an Italian town can readily identify with the scene presented. There is the village piazza surrounded by benches. There on a bright afternoon the elderly gather, with canes and walkers, for a neighborly chat. The children, of course, occupy the center of the piazza, filling it with laughter and merriment. It is a picture that one never forgets. This is the restored Jerusalem that the prophet presents. “They shall be my people and I will be their God.”
Children also play a part in the teaching of Jesus today. He has little time for lofty ambition. He looks for the sentiments of a child—dependent, uncomplicated, candid. Children want to be loved simply for who they are. To receive the child or anyone of similar sentiments is to receive both Christ and the Father.
Erudition in the service of God is always good to encounter. But the kingdom is not built on learning, but rather on simplicity and goodness and a simple and direct love of God. Many saints of the church had great minds, but intelligence was not the key to their sanctity. Let us pray for that simplicity that characterizes the children playing in the town square, as well as those of any age who turn lovingly to Christ.
Points to Ponder
The spiritual qualities of a child
The child’s openness to faith
Acquiring a childlike spirit.