Our Venerable Father Daniel the Stylite (493)
Nativity Fast. Abstinence from meat and foods that contain meat.
Read
1 Timothy 5:22-6:11; Luke 18:15-17, 26-30
Today’s Gospel lesson reminds us of the importance of regularly bringing children to Church for the Divine Liturgy and holy prayer services. Our Lord gives a command to the apostles and to us, “Let the children come to me…” Children have the same value and dignity as any other human being in the Church community; therefore, they belong in the Church assembly co-worshipping the Holy Trinity along with all the other fully initiated members of the Body of Christ. Yes, they lack the strength, endurance and focus to last the entire service, but they offer as much as they can and slowly embrace the whole as they grow physically and intellectually. Encouraging children to participate in communal worship is essential in forming their identity as God’s creatures, His servants, His children and members of His Body. Forming our identity in Christ is an essential aspect to the spiritual life, which all believers, no matter the age, must do.
Having children present in our Churches also helps the adults remember the words of Christ: “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Blessed Theophylact says, “A little child is not haughty, he does not despise anyone, he is innocent and guileless. He does not inflate himself in the presence of important people, nor withdraw from the one in sorrows Instead he lives in complete simplicity. So it is that he who lives humbly and innocently will be accepted by God, as well as he who receives the kingdom of God the way a little child does, without guile or scepticism, but with trust and faith.”