😇St. Joseph Calasanctius, a Spanish priest, felt a divine calling in Rome to educate poor and abandoned children, founding the Order of the Pious Schools (the Piarists), the first to offer free public education in Europe. He dedicated his life to the integral formation of youth, believing that education was the surest path to salvation and the reform of society. He faced misunderstandings, calumnies, and the temporary suppression of his work with heroic patience and humility, seeing in each child the image of Christ and thus becoming a living example of the Gospel that preached littleness and service.
🙏 Introit (Ps 33:12 | ibid., 2)
Veníte, fílii, audíte me... Come, children, hear me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Ps. I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be ever in my mouth. ℣. Glory be to the Father.
📜 Epistle (Wisdom 10:10-14)
The Lord guided the just man in right paths, and showed him the kingdom of God, and gave him the knowledge of the holy things, made him honorable in his labors, and accomplished his labors. In the deceit of them that overreached him, she stood by him, and made him honorable. She kept him safe from his enemies, and she defended him from seducers, and gave him a strong conflict, that he might overcome, and know that wisdom is mightier than all. She forsook not the just when he was sold, but delivered him from sinners: she went down with him into the pit, and in bands she left him not, till she brought him the scepter of the kingdom, and power against those that oppressed him: and showed them to be liars that had accused him, and gave him everlasting glory, the Lord our God.
✝️ Gospel (Mt 18:1-5)
At that time, the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, and said: Amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.
🤔 Reflections
💡The wisdom that guided the just man, mentioned in the Epistle, is the same that recognizes greatness in littleness, as taught in the Gospel—a truth embodied by St. Joseph Calasanctius. The greatest of all arts is the formation of a child's soul, for whoever shapes it prepares a citizen for heaven (St. John Chrysostom, Homily 60 on Matthew). The childlike humility that Christ praises is not the absence of reason, but the absence of malice, pride, and the desire for revenge; a child easily forgets offenses, which makes him a model for entering the Kingdom (St. Augustine, Sermon 79 on the New Testament). It is through patience in tribulations, endured for the love of the Kingdom, that the soul acquires true wisdom and becomes great in the eyes of God, for divine strength is made manifest in human weakness (St. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job, Book V).
📖The Gospel of St. Mark complements the scene by specifying that the dispute about who was the greatest occurred "on the way" and that Jesus, before presenting the child, sat down and taught the Twelve that "If any man desire to be first, he shall be the last of all, and the servant of all" (Mk 9:35). St. Luke, in turn, highlights Christ's omniscience, stating that He, "seeing the thoughts of their heart," took the child to illustrate the lesson on true greatness, which resides in humble service (Lk 9:47).
✉️St. Paul deepens the notion of spiritual greatness by contrasting divine wisdom with worldly wisdom, stating that God chose "the weak things of the world to confound the strong" (1 Corinthians 1:27), echoing the choice of a child as a model. The exhortation to humility finds its apex in the Epistle to the Philippians, which presents Christ Himself as the example, who "humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death" (Philippians 2:8), defining true preeminence not by power, but by self-emptying and service.
🏛️Pontifical documents on Christian education, such as the encyclical Divini Illius Magistri, reinforce the mission of St. Joseph Calasanctius by defining the primary purpose of education as cooperating with divine grace in forming the "true and perfect Christian," directing all human faculties toward their ultimate end, which is God. Such documents underline that holiness, not earthly prestige, is the measure of human excellence, corroborating the Gospel's lesson on humility as the criterion for greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven.
🧐 See English articles here.
