“Receive”

Mark 10: 15: “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.” We talk a lot about Christmas being a season of giving, not receiving. But on this Feast of the Holy Innocents, commemorating Herod’s murder of the children of Bethlehem (Matthew 2: 16), Jesus teaches us to receive not only the Kingdom, but its young ones, as well. To deny its youth is to deny the Kingdom itself. Bless them however you will, but bless them (v. 16).