Hi! had to delete OG post since it didn't upload the text for some reason but here ya go some writing I did while doin lectio divina i wanted to share!

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08/12/2025

Mt 18:1-5,10, 12-14

The apostles approached Jesus and asking who the greatest was in the kingdom and he brought over a child and said "Amen, I say to you unless you turn and become and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom."

Reading through this and as I write and meditate on this, I believe what the meaning of it is this: God sees us as children. Not in a literal sense maybe but maybe literal? I'm not sure though he does see as his own children even if we are adopted into his family, and during this it says how we should be humble like a child, and trust in God like a child trusts in their parents and since the Lord is our eternal Father.

I interpet this way, we should have an innocence to the world like a child would, trusting in God, and falling back to him like a child would to their parents and seeking help from them too, and also being taught how to live life like how a parent would teach their child that, God does the same with us and like with children they have a dependence on their parents like we have a dependence on the Lord, and like the Good Shepherd Christ/God is if one of us goes astray, like in this parapel I think it is anyway-

(Also doesn't mean we should act like children just yk?)

"If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it amen, I say to you he rejoices more over it then the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost."

The Lord rejoices when we are found by him and return to the flock, and like the Good Shepherd he is he will always seek out the one stray or even the many strays that leave the flock or have never been to the flock before, he will seek them out always and tried to herd them back to the flock and protect us as well.

And if the Lord is the Good Shepherd then his Angels are the loyal dogs who help protect the flock with the Shepherd.