By Rev. Msgr. Robert M. Kinnally
One of the great joys of my ministry is to preach a children’s homily from time to time. To my great delight, children often take the homily to amazing places that are nowhere near where I thought things would go. Put another way, the children write the homily with their exquisite insights informed by the way they view the world.
Several years ago, I read a passage from the 18th Chapter of Matthew’s Gospel to the congregation in which Jesus says this: “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.”
After the children settled in on the floor below the sanctuary, I began the homily with a question: “Boys and girls, why do you think Jesus loves children so much?” Instantly a hand shot up and I called on a five-year-old who said, “Jesus loves children so much because children don’t make war.” At that moment I felt that his words would suffice for a homily. The sighs and “wow’s” abounded, and I could see more than a few adults wiping their eyes.
That little boy was right, and besides gently calling to task those who “make war,” he echoed God’s desire and promise found in the prophet Isaiah in this section read frequently in the season of Advent:
On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom…he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the land’s afflicted… Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them…There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD.
We can learn so much from children this time of year – and all year long. Their innocence, their undying sense of wonder, and their sheer delight in the smallest of things should harken us back to our own days of innocence, wonder, and simplicity. Their contagious laughter and hopefulness are inspiring, and their love can heal all hurts. By their presence among us, they give us hope.
I was struck recently by the strong sense of hope for the world that children have when I read some of the poems of children who wrote as part of UNICEF’s “Poems for Peace.” This project gives children a platform to explain in their own words the impact of conflict and war on their lives along with their hopes and dreams for the future. Two of the poems spoke to me of the courage of these young ones:
From Sudan, Ebtihal wrote: “We long for peace, not battles fought. / And the peace will illuminate the darkness. / Sudan, may happiness be in your heart.” Fedir lives in Ukraine and penned this: “But I believe that happy days will break through the pain. / The war will end; the air raids will stop forever.”
A path to peace and hope comes from acknowledging that we are all God’s children and that we were loved into creation by the one true God who spoke these words through Jeremiah (a very young prophet): “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you – plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.” The context for the Jeremiah prophecy about goodness and hope is the Babylonian exile, but the promise pervades our own world today.
The greatest promise God ever kept was sending the Messiah. If he kept that promise, He will surely keep the promise of a future of hope; but in the meantime, all of creation is waiting. We are giving birth to our best selves while we anticipate once again in the dead of winter, the birth of the Savior, the light of the world who writes – for us – the greatest story ever told.
On the First Sunday of Advent where we are introduced to moments of waiting for the Lord, I asked the children assembled for the homily: “What does it mean to wait? One of our four-year-old girls responded: “It means it’s not your turn yet; but if you are patient, it will be your turn and it will be very good.”
Israel waited for a long time for the Messiah who was promised in the prophecy of Isaiah. They never gave up. They dreamed and prayed for the One who would redeem them. It wasn’t their turn on those days they really needed their Messiah, but when it was their turn, it was very good.
The first chapter of John’s Gospel speaks plainly to us about that moment when God breaks into the world: “And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” God and Human – how awesome is God. Jesus knows what it’s like to be me. Jesus knows better than the most well-meaning friend how to console me, hold me, encourage me, pray for me, and love me. That’s all we need. He gets it.
Maybe this Advent and Christmas we will know peace from knowing and loving the Father’s only Son. And so, my prayer this Advent and Christmas is that we learn from children so that we may stop making war, always wait our turn, and rejoice in the very good things that happen when we are patient enough to trust that God keeps promise and His time is the best time.
Rev. Msgr. Robert M. Kinnally is the Pastor at St. Aloysius Parish, New Canaan.
