A Child's Hand

But Jesus said, "Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." -  Matthew 19:14

Jesus’ message rang loud and clear at Sunday Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Northeast DC.  My daughter was visiting me and we were capping off a great “Daddy/Daughter” weekend with worship at the largest Catholic Church in America.  I’ve been to the Basilica several times and the congregation there is a mix of ethnicities and races.  Many in attendance were visitors like us, some having traveled very long distances, but there was also a sizable contingent of people from the surrounding neighborhoods.  The Basilica may be a national pilgrimage site, but it’s also a church for the locals.

The Lord’s Prayer is a particularly reverent time of Mass for me, and the commonly followed practice of holding hands with those next to you brings a greater sense of community and fellowship.  At home in the South, most everyone in church holds hands during the prayer, but that’s not true in DC nor, I suspect, in most big cities.  The guarded shell that people in the city develop to get them through a Metro commute or a phalanx of panhandlers carries over into areas of life where it shouldn’t.  My daughter and I held hands however and I reached out my empty hand into the space next to me in a customary gesture of openness.

As I closed my eyes and prayed the Our Father, I felt a gentle tug on my finger.  A little African American girl, about two years old, who was in the pew in front of us had reached out to hold my hand.  Her mother and grandmother saw this and we all smiled with the common knowledge that a child’s purity transcends differences among people and is something to be treasured.  This little angel made me feel closer to God that Sunday and I hope she had the same effect on her mother and grandmother and my daughter too. 

Jesus was right about the children.  If only we could be more like them in matters of faith or in our relationships.