“To become fully human is to become like God, to become like God is to “become as little children” (Matt 18:3)
- Vassilios Papavassiliou, Meditations for the 12 Great Feasts, pg 38
Reflection:
Becoming like God is to become as “little children” by regaining the pure authentic humanity that Christ shows us on Christmas day. But how do we do that? We live as children of God.
To become as “little children” is to regain our trusting simplicity we had as a child. “A child has faith in his father; he walks hand in hand with Him; he knows that his father will lead him where he needs to go, he knows that his father will protect him, feed and shelter him. When he speaks to his father he does not try to use any complicated formula, he says quite simply and affectionately what he wants to say.”(1) This is our relationship with Our Father, Who art in heaven.
God comes to us in complete humility, in secret, and poor. And in so doing He shows us that all that is truly good in humanity is also humble. If we think about the true nature of God, we will find ourselves moving from the initial surprise that God came to us as a baby - to the conclusion that there could be no other way.
Only in a baby could the Image of God be revealed to the world, inducing not fear and terror, but love and tenderness, revealing to us both the humility of God and the goodness and purity of God’s creation.
When we become as “little children”, we strive to remain humble, giving, loving, simple, kind, all of the things that are natural to our newborns; natural to humanity.(2) These fruits of the Spirit(3) come by living a life in Christ’s Church, as a child of God.
Let us build our relationship with God in such a way that we regain the trusting simplicity a child has for his/her parent - for our Creator and Savior. This way, we may open our hearts for Him to guide us and help us with every step we take.
