Sunday 2 March 2025

Today is Sunday the 2nd of March, beginning the 8th week of Ordinary Time.

Harpa Dei sing the Creed in Latin: “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.”

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 10:13-16

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.’ And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Much of the gospel is taken up with Jesus’s reactions to the adults he encounters: Pharisees and scribes, tax-collectors and fishermen, centurions and wealthy women. Here, by contrast, he meets with little children. What first strikes you about his reaction to them?

The disciples clearly think that this is a waste of Jesus’s precious time. Do you agree with them? Why, or why not?

As you listen again, ask yourself what it might mean to “receive the kingdom of God as a little child”.

Conclude this time of prayer by asking Jesus to bless you, as he blesses the children at the end of this passage.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.