Matthew 18:1-6: Agnes, Martyr at Rome 304

Despite her noble Roman lineage, Agnes made a vow of chastity before Christ, a vow that led to her death.

She was but a mere child, twelve or thirteen, but an old soul. when she died for her Lord

Agnes chose Jesus over the son of a high-ranking Roman prefect. Her being a Christian prompted the death penalty.

In Saint Matthew’s Gospel for today, his disciples want to know who will be the greatest in the afterlife. 

An annoyed Jesus calls over a nearby child and told his disciples that whoever becomes humble as a child is humble, that person will be the greatest in heaven.

It calls to mind these Bob Dylan lyrics:

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin’

The young, the innocent. Spirit-filled integrity propels them toward justice and truth.

It is they to whom we look for hope.