We often ask people to pray for us and people ask us to pray for them. In today’s Gospel reading, parents bring children to Jesus so that he may lay his hands on them and pray for them recognizing Jesus as a man of God. In the time of Jesus, children were way down the pecking order; they were without rights or status. Perhaps the disciples thought that these children were not ‘worthy’ of Jesus’ attention. If so, they had a great deal to learn about the values of the kingdom of God. Jesus insisted on allowing the children to come to him. He identifies them as those to whom the kingdom of God belongs in a special way. In the inverted world of God’s kingdom, those who have little or no status or importance in this world have a special place. “God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing”. (1 Cor 1:27-28a)

PRAYER: Abba Father, may our lives proclaim the values of your kingdom. Amen.