First reading Zechariah 8:1-8
The Lord will return to Zion
The word of the Lord of Hosts was addressed to me as follows:
‘The Lord of Hosts says this.
I am burning with jealousy for Zion,
with great anger for her sake.
‘The Lord of Hosts says this.
I am coming back to Zion
and shall dwell in the middle of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem will be called Faithful City
and the mountain of the Lord of Hosts, the Holy Mountain.
‘The Lord of Hosts says this.
Old men and old women will again sit down
in the squares of Jerusalem;
every one of them staff in hand
because of their great age.
And the squares of the city will be full
of boys and girls
playing in the squares.
‘The Lord of Hosts says this.
If this seems a miracle
to the remnant of this people (in those days),
will it seem one to me?
It is the Lord of Hosts who speaks.
‘The Lord of Hosts says this.
Now I am going to save my people
from the countries of the East
and from the countries of the West.
I will bring them back
to live inside Jerusalem.
They shall be my people
and I will be their God
in faithfulness and integrity.’
Responsorial Psalm 101(102):16-21,29,22-23
The Lord shall build up Zion again and appear in all his glory.
The nations shall fear the name of the Lord
and all the earth’s kings your glory,
when the Lord shall build up Zion again
and appear in all his glory.
Then he will turn to the prayers of the helpless;
he will not despise their prayers.
The Lord shall build up Zion again and appear in all his glory.
Let this be written for ages to come
that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord;
for the Lord leaned down from his sanctuary on high.
He looked down from heaven to the earth
that he might hear the groans of the prisoners
and free those condemned to die.
The Lord shall build up Zion again and appear in all his glory.
The sons of your servants shall dwell untroubled
and their race shall endure before you
that the name of the Lord may be proclaimed in Zion
and his praise in the heart of Jerusalem,
when peoples and kingdoms are gathered together
to pay their homage to the Lord.
The Lord shall build up Zion again and appear in all his glory.
Gospel Luke 9:46-50
The least among you all is the greatest
An argument started between the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus knew what thoughts were going through their minds, and he took a little child and set him by his side and then said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For the least among you all, that is the one who is great.’
John spoke up. ‘Master,’ he said ‘we saw a man casting out devils in your name, and because he is not with us we tried to stop him.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘You must not stop him: anyone who is not against you is for you.’
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To be great is to be like a little child
Often, we think that life is a competition in which we are constantly in a race against others. We need to compete to see who produces more, who is the best, who has more power, etc. We forget that God created humanity to be brothers and sisters, not competitors. In today’s Gospel, the disciples argued which one of them was the greatest, as the world understood it. Jesus, however, reminded them that His ways were different from the ways of the world. For Jesus, being great is to be like a child, i.e. weak, vulnerable, and contented to have no power or status.
Rather than competing to be great, Jesus invited them to identify themselves as little children and that they are called to be great by serving, not dominating, the least, especially those whom society deemed as unimportant. Today, we need to work for greatness by being like a little child. Let us respect, love and serve others, especially those without status and wealth, so that we grow more fully into Jesus’ mindset, His values and attitudes.
Question for reflection:
What does being like a little child mean to me?
What does being like a little child mean to me?
