Children At Risk

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. 

What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.  In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost."   (Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14)

School openings are on the horizon, and parents and teachers are wary.  The coronavirus is projected to kill about 300,000 in the United States by the end of summer.  Are children vulnerable?   Consider the following: “Facebook removed a post from President Donald Trump's page for containing false claims about Covid-19. The post was a video of an interview the President gave to Fox News. "This video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from Covid-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful Covid misinformation," Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement.  Stone added the specific comments that had run afoul of Facebook's rules were Trump's false claims about children being almost immune to the virus.”

Jesus said children are the “greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”  He said it is "not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.”  Children are vulnerable, and we pray school openings will not prove tragic.  None must be lost!  Moreover, those who are not humble like a child – the proud and arrogant – are the least in the Kingdom of heaven.

Deacon David Pierce