Mere Children

Filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, Jesus said: ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do.
Lk. 10:21

The seventy two  have returned from their first mission trip bringing reports of outstanding success. “Even the demons submit to us in your name”.  These first missionarys would have been simple, uneducated people. Jesus thanks God for what has happened through the work of “mere children”.

The message here is we don’t have to be great theologians to be effective in spreading the Good News. In fact, just the opposite is true. I think this is why children receive the Gospel so readily.

The Gospel is simple but covers everyone in every situation and so can be expressed in many different ways.

Last week I met a man who had just been told his heart wasn’t going to last much longer. The Good News I was able to tell him was, “This is not the end of your story”. On Sunday the Good News I could tell children at Children’s Liturgy was, “God loves you so much that he sent his son as a baby to lead you back to heaven”. In both occasions the result on hearing the Good News was great joy.

Keep it simple, keep it adaptable and be ready to say it when then opportunity arises.

Lord Jesus, your message of mercy and love brings great joy. Prompt me by your Spirit today when I can be the bearer of this Good News to people I meet. 
Little Flower, please pray for me.