EAT THIS SCROLL…

Ezekiel 2:8-10;3:1-4,
8 “But you, son of man, hear what I say to you; be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth, and eat what I give you.”9 And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and, lo, a written scroll was in it;10 and he spread it before me; and it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.
1 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.”
2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it; and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.4 And he said to me, “Son of man, go, get you to the house of Israel, and speak with my words to them. 

Matthew 18:1-5,10,12-14
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them,
3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me;

10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.
12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?
13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.
14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

MEDITATION

EZEKIEL THE PROPHET describe his encounter with God who adressed him as “son of man,” implying that he share in the nature of God who has endowed him with spiritual; intelligence, wisdom, truth, goodness, justice and holiness. With this said, Ezekiel received a scroll in his mouth with a message about grief, sorrow and pain written on both sides that he is ordered to gnaw on! To his surprise, the message on the scroll was tasty and sweet as honey! 

THE GOSPEL READING: A disciple who was curious about the hierarchical structure of the kingdom of heaven, is brought down to earth when Christ held up and present a child who is the epitome of one who is; humble, uncorrupted, innocent, pure, obedient and lowly.

We live in a culture that frame children to chase after high-flying careers, titles and positions that suppose they will be prestigeous and financially secure. More often than not, we want our children to be protected from poverty and pain, be and have what we adults could never achieve. ‘We are what we eat’ imply that our desires can be consequently good or bad! Greatness pressupose a desire to be pure, humble, obedient with a penchant for divine knowledge—eating a scroll—acquire wisdom by gnawing on, living and applying the Word of God daily—then we shall not be lost, but be on a path worthy of being rewarded a place in the kingdom of heaven! 

LET US PRAY: Psalms 119:14,24;119:72,103,111,131

14 In the way of thy testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.24 Thy testimonies are my delight, they are my counselors.
72 The law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
103 How sweet are thy words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
111 Thy testimonies are my heritage for ever; yea, they are the joy of my heart.
131 With open mouth I pant, because I long for thy commandments.

Commentary. Henry R SYLVESTER Note: The daily scripture readings are taken from the Roman Missal which the Catholic Church use in the daily Celebration of the Holy Eucharist throughout the world.Some weekly readings may differ because of the celebration of local feast days.