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Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Mk 9/30-37 |
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| Background: Children were loved in the time of Jesus but they were not as important as they are today. More than half of them did not live to be adults. Many children were killed a birth (particularly girl children). Others were simply put out in the field to starve to death. In times of shortages of food, children were fed last. None of this was intended to be cruel. These were rather things people did because they felt they had to do them to survive. Moreover children had no rights. Parents could do to them whatever they thought necessary to make the children obedient or to force them to work for the family. It was not a good time to be a kid. Jesus urges respect for children in today's Gospel. What you do to a kid, he says, you do to him. We should remember that today when kids are often ruthlessly exploited by their parents, especially in athletics and in pressure to do well in school to make their parents look good. |
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Story: Once upon a very poor family decided that it had no choice but to send one of their children to America. The father said that there was not enough food for everyone. Someone had to be sent away so that the others might eat. One of the daughters had to go to America to earn money and send it home to keep the family alive. The mother argued that it would be cruel to do that. They could survive if they were careful with their food and didn't waste any of it and if the father didn't spend so much money on drink. The father became furious and said he would make the decisions in his house. The eldest daughter would be the one to go. He had to keep the sons at home to work in the fields. The eldest was very pretty and her father's favorite. Still she had to go and that was that. The child, who was sixteen, pleaded and begged and cried, but her father was implacable. When sun rose the next morning, she must be ready to go down to the immigrant ship and leave for America. But the next morning when the sun came up, he woke the second daughter, who was only thirteen, whom he had never liked. Out of bed, you little brat. You're going instead of your sister. You're worthless to us here. At least we won't have to feed you. And we won't have to look at your ugly face any more. Your sister is ten times your worth. So the terrified little girl was put on the boat with an address of relatives in America clutched in her hand. Well, you know the rest of the story. She became very successful in America and married a wonderful and generous man. She sent money home to her family but she never returned. |
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