First reading Exodus 23:20-23
I myself will send an angel before you
The Lord says this: ‘I myself will send an angel before you to guard you as you go and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Give him reverence and listen to all that he says. Offer him no defiance; he would not pardon such a fault, for my name is in him. If you listen carefully to his voice and do all that I say, I shall be enemy to your enemies, foe to your foes. My angel will go before you.’
Responsorial Psalm 90(91):1-6,10-11
The Lord has commanded his angels to keep you in all your ways.
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
and abides in the shade of the Almighty
says to the Lord: ‘My refuge,
my stronghold, my God in whom I trust!’
The Lord has commanded his angels to keep you in all your ways.
It is he who will free you from the snare
of the fowler who seeks to destroy you;
he will conceal you with his pinions
and under his wings you will find refuge.
The Lord has commanded his angels to keep you in all your ways.
You will not fear the terror of the night
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the plague that prowls in the darkness
nor the scourge that lays waste at noon.
The Lord has commanded his angels to keep you in all your ways.
Upon you no evil shall fall,
no plague approach where you dwell.
For you has he commanded his angels,
to keep you in all your ways.
The Lord has commanded his angels to keep you in all your ways.
Gospel Matthew 18:1-5,10
Anyone who welcomes a little child in my name welcomes me
The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. See that you never despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.’
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Jesus, the Father’s son
Jesus, in this gospel, is comparing Himself to a little child, and in fact, He lived totally as such in relation to God. During His public life, He depended totally on The Father. Throughout the passages of the gospels, we can observe how He frequently went to pray and listen to God in order to accomplish His will. Even at the end of His life, on the cross, He uttered his last prayer: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”. This prayer was not improvised but rather the constant focus of His entire life. That was the way He lived: constantly in God’s hands.
In celebrating the Eucharist, we receive Jesus, but do we receive Him with the same attitude that He had? He entrusts Himself to us; do we entrust ourselves to Him? Do we listen more and more to Him through His Word to do His will?
Reflective question:
In my daily life, how can I live depending more and more on God?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year B” by Sr Maria Jose FMVD.
