Vessel & Altar

"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." - Matthew 18:10

Clare of Assisi was from one of the leading families of Assisi. She heard Francis preach, left everything, and lived in radical poverty for forty years. She refused to leave even when popes pressured her to moderate the rule. She wanted poverty without mitigation, not because she was grim about it but because she had found something in it she could not give up. She died joyfully.

She was, by every measure her world used, a little one. No property, no position, no influence by conventional means. And yet the Poor Clares have outlasted almost everything her contemporaries considered significant.

Jesus puts a child in the center of the greatness debate. The child is not arguing, not competing, not trying to be in the room. Jesus says: turn and become like this one. The disciples wanted to know who was greatest. He showed them what greatness looked like and it was not what they were doing.

The little ones have angels who look upon the face of the Father. Every person you have cared for at their most vulnerable - every child you have tended, every sick person you have sat with, every small and overlooked person you have received in his name - is held in that direct attention.

You may be a little one yourself right now. You may be caring for little ones, or carrying one in prayer. The Father's will is that not one of them be lost.

Who is the little one you are caring for or carrying in prayer today - the one who has no leverage, who depends on someone going to find them? Name them. Bring them before the Father whose will is that not one of these be lost. Then be willing to be the one who goes.

Lord, do not let one of these be lost. Not this one. I am bringing them to you. And if I need to go, let me go. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. Amen.