Articles

Don’t be childish

“If you had only paid attention to what I have said,” complains the Lord through the prophet, for God wants our own good. Jesus complains that there are people who behave in a childish way when John the Baptist preaches repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah: they are like girls who refuse to dance when the flute plays joyful tunes or boys who refuse to mourn when people are weeping. The Lord is among us and asks for commitment so that we can lead the world to life, justice and happiness. What is our faith worth, if we do not practice it?

Reading: Isaiah 48:17-19

And now, the Master, God, sends me and his Spirit
    with this Message from God,
    your Redeemer, The Holy of Israel:
“I am God, your God,
    who teaches you how to live right and well.
    I show you what to do, where to go.
If you had listened all along to what I told you,
    your life would have flowed full like a river,
    blessings rolling in like waves from the sea.
Children and grandchildren are like sand,
    your progeny like grains of sand.
There would be no end of them,
    no danger of losing touch with me.”

Gospel: Matthew 11:16-19

Jesus started talking to the crowd: “How can I account for this generation? The people have been like spoiled children whining to their parents, ‘We wanted to skip rope, and you were always too tired; we wanted to talk, but you were always too busy.’ John came fasting and they called him crazy. I came feasting and they called me a lush, a friend of the riffraff. Opinion polls don’t count for much, do they? The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

Prayer

Lord, our God,
too often, we are deaf to your voice
and to the presence of your Son
among us, his people.
Inspire us by your prophets and your Spirit,
that now is the right moment to change
and to commit ourselves,
to the kind of life and to the justice
demanded by the kingdom.
Help us to make people see
that your Son is alive among us
and that he is our Lord for ever. Amen.