NOTES for Mar 10:13-14

Between the worlds in which adults and children live, there is almost always a certain impassable wall. Adults build it by talking down to children, by a patronizing attitude and a sense of superiority over little people who do not understand all the complexity of life. Children, in turn, perceive this wall as a barrier that does not let them into the strange and incomprehensible world of adults, and at the same time they note adults' inability to see and understand something simple but important about life. It was precisely the feeling of this wall that made Christ's disciples prevent children from distracting the Teacher from important matters. In response the Lord speaks today about the need for us to receive the Kingdom of Heaven as children do. If one thinks carefully, by these words He opens to us amazing sides of life. Elsewhere He speaks of the need to receive children; the issue is not necessarily adoption, to which by no means everyone is called. The Lord says that adults should relate to God, to people, and to the world in such a way that this wall does not exist. And in this way we will be able to receive the Kingdom of Heaven.