Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” (JN 21:5-7)
I recall as a child always wanting to be a grown up. A child wants to be older than they actually are. Remember when you said you were five but were barely four? We never said we were six years old. Instead we said we were almost six or six and a half or almost seven but never six. Remember saying, “when I grow up, I’m going to make lots of money, buy a big house and drive a fancy car. When I’m grown up, I can do whatever I want.” As children, we are asked to do grown up things like help around the house, assist the family, earn our keep. It is a good way to learn responsibility. Back then, it sounded so terrible. It felt like slavery. Funny, today it doesn’t sound too bad, no stressful job, no anxieties, no worries, no responsibilities, no bills, no expenses, no loans, no car payments, no taxes, no headaches, no laundry, free room and board, food, water, shelter and health care, endless summer vacations, after school snacks. It all sounds good to me. It’s interesting that after three years of being with Jesus, learning from Jesus, suffering as grownups the lessons of the Gospel with Jesus, the disciples encounter Christ after the Resurrection and he calls them children. It is not children as in being childish or inexperienced or immature. But children as in being a beloved child of God. Jesus came into this world to suffer our humanity, our adulthood, our need to be grown up, our independence, our self-sufficiency. He showed us through his example. He taught us by his words. Jesus demonstrated how to be a true child of God by the way he lived and by the way he died. A child is simple, dependent, weak, vulnerable, defenseless, happy, always in the sense of awe. Think for a moment how our almighty and all-powerful God humbled himself and took the form of a poor, helpless, vulnerable child. He surrendered his power, his glory, his security, all his heavenly comforts to live as a child in our midst. He surrendered any concerns, all his will, all his independence, all in loving obedience to the Father. Jesus placed all his trust in the Father’s love and in faithful service to the Father’s will. Jesus was and is a good and faithful child and remained a good and faithful child throughout his life and even unto death – death on a cross. “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (MT 18:3)