The weekend before last, my wife and I were in Tampa, Florida. On Sunday, we attended Sacred Heart, which is a beautiful church in downtown Tampa.

After the priest’s homily and before the presentation of the gifts, a little two-year-old girl broke free from her mom and ran toward the altar, giggling all the way. Her mom caught her before she reached the altar steps and gently returned her to their pew.

Aside from smiling while seeing the excitement of the child and being delighted by her giggling (which made many smile,) I thought we could all learn something from her simple action.

We all should feel such happiness when we approach the altar to receive the Holy Eucharist. It is there that we find Jesus waiting to nourish and be with us in such a wonderful way.

Matthew's Scripture reading (MT 18: 3-4) quotes Jesus saying, “,...unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven..”.

May we all learn from the child at the church to be excited at Jesus’ presence, and to be happy to know how much we are loved by God.



By: Deacon Tom Gryzbek