Today in the Gospel we see Jesus being questioned again, being tested again. His questioners are not interested in His answers so much as in finding His weaknesses. The Pharisees, Jesus’ interrogators, are looking for a headline, a sound bite to use against Jesus: “Jesus takes the hard line†or “Jesus is soft.†But Jesus takes the discussion to a deeper level. He takes it to the level of love and its true nature. For marriage to work, and for families and children to be happy, there must be a true recognition of the value and the worth of every human being. Go back to Genesis, Jesus says. What do you find there? God’s original design, written in our bodies. Man and woman are equal in worth. They are made for one another. They come together in love and in justice.
We come into this world as helpless babies. We need all the help that we can get. That help comes to us from those who love us. We are clothed and fed, cuddled and comforted. Our parents tell us how much they love us, how much we are loved. Many times we fail, not because we are bad, but because we do not know any different. But we want to be well. We want to flourish. The child in us wants to grow up and be happy. So the Lord says to us, “Let the little children come to Me; do not stop them.â€