Daily Gospel Reflection for August 11, 2026

Explore the significance of childlike humility in faith as Jesus teaches us to value the little ones and embrace innocence in our spiritual journey.

Today's Gospel: Matthew 18:1-5, 10, 12-14

The disciples want to know “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?"

As an example, Jesus shows them a child. It is the little ones, the ones that are like children who will be the greatest.
I remember being with my mother, who was a great defender of children. We were in a restaurant where a child was making a disturbance and one of the other guests was quite vocally making his displeasure with the child known. My mother, much more discreetly, was making her disapproval with the disgruntled guest known to me. Rolling her eyes she said, “People forget sometimes that they were once children too." Indeed.

Jesus tells us that the little ones are not to be despised. In fact, they are to be received as though they were Jesus. They are to be given the greatest honor. He goes even further. If you don’t become like a child, you will not even enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

That should get our attention. What does Jesus mean? What does Jesus love about a child? He loves their humility. A child is innocent, utterly without pretense, without airs, without any illusions about his status. A child knows he is utterly dependent on his parents and others in authority over him. He does not have the illusions that many adults have that he is in control or maybe even that he doesn’t need to rely on Jesus.

It is these humble little ones whom Jesus favors. Jesus tells us,

“See that you do not despise these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

They are the greatest. We must become like them, innocent and humble, genuine and open to God’s love.

Ponder:

In what areas of our lives do we need to be more childlike? How can we work on these areas to be more as Jesus wants us to be?

Pray:

O Jesus, help us to "turn and become like children" as You desire. Please show us how we need to change. 

Pray Together:

Let's value children as Jesus does. Perhaps we could be kinder to children and to their caregivers, especially when they are frustrated. Let's pray for them!

Copyright 2026 Rosemary Bogdan