Saturday, May 21, 2016 7th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Jas 5: 13-20 Gospel: Mk 10:13–16
People were bringing their little children to him to have him touch them, and the disciples rebuked them for this.When Jesus noticed it, he was very angry and said, “Let the children come to me and don’t stop them, for the kingdom of God be-longs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Then he took the children in his arms and laying his hands on them, blessed them.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
One important characteristic of children that adults can learn from is receptiveness. This is exactly the opposite of intellectual arrogance that usually goes with adulthood. As one advances in age, the layers of knowledge acquired though the years filter new inputs, making adults less receptive. “It is hard to teach old dogs new tricks,” says an old English proverb.
It can be worse at the spiritual level. In due time these layers of knowledge petrify the heart with worldly values. It is then that spiritual realities get maximum screening and rarely get through. Thus, when adults hear nice homilies, for example, they could be touched yet remain unmoved. Their mental screens recognize the homily as appropriate not for themselves but for others. Is it still possible for adults to be receptive especially in matters of the Spirit? Can adults revert to “childhood”?
Yes adults can be children again. The concept of ‘tabula rasa’ of ancient Rome is enlightening. The Roman ‘tabula rasa’ was a wax tablet used for writing notes. Writers simply had to reheat the tablet to erase the writings thereon and produce a new blank slate. The concept of ‘tabula rasa’ later found its way to the field of psychology with Aristotle writing about the so- called “unscribed tablet” in his treatise ‘De Anima’. Avicenna, an Islamic philosopher in the 11th century, later developed the concept further. Philosophers who adhere to the theory of tabula rasa argue that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception.
To become like little children in order to inherit the kingdom, we who are already adults must revert to this tabula rasa status by the virtue of humility. By challenging our sense of sufficiency with this virtue we create an inner friction that produces sufficient heat to melt our wax tablets of intellectual arrogance. Humility is the key. Like little children, we can still be receptive to the things of the Spirit and inherit the kingdom of God.– (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
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