The Repeated Gospel of the Little Children and the Givers of Scandal

Dr Kwasnieski discusses how the leapfrogging through the Scripture in the New Lectionary destroys the intended point of many readings.

From One Peter Five

By Peter Kwasniewski, PhD

As I pointed out in an article at OnePeterFive a couple of years ago, “The Annunciation and the Subtle Use of Gospels in the Old Roman Rite,” one of the most striking features of the ancient Roman Rite is the way in which it repeats the same Gospel passages throughout the year on different occasions, often with interesting differences in ranges of verses chosen, as if, on the one hand, to drill this passage into us due to its overwhelming importance, and, on the other hand, to give in to the lure of a glistening jewel so beautiful it is worth taking up multiple times and turning about to see it sparkle from various angles.

One such passage is surely that of the little child whom Christ sets before the apostles to remind them of what is most important—and on the occasion of which (at least as found in Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospels) the Lord warns against those who give scandal to the little ones. In the old rite, whose one-year lectionary tends to prefer Matthew as the “go-to” Gospel, we have the full passage, chapter 18, verses 1 to 10, for the feast of the Archangel Michael on September 29:

At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, 3 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. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. 6 But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh. 8 And if thy hand, or thy foot scandalize thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to go into life maimed or lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire. 9 And if thy eye scandalize thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee having one eye to enter into life, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 10 See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. (Mt 18:1–10 DR)

We have here a highly appropriate passage for a feast of the angels, as this is one of relatively few times that Our Lord speaks expressly of the angels, and the only passage where He testifies to the existence of the guardian angels (“their angels”). We are therefore not surprised when Holy Mother Church offers us again the exact same Gospel only a few days later, on October 2, the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels.

However, the old rite repeats this entire Gospel on yet a third occasion: the traditional May 8th feast of the Apparition of St. Michael, which was removed from the general calendar in 1960 and relegated to the Pro aliquibus locis section of the missal—where it remains accessible and is sometimes still to be heard. Priests who follow pre-55 rubrics will naturally celebrate this feast without any fuss.

In the Novus Ordo, in contrast, this Gospel—Matthew 18:1–10—is not read at any time in the Church’s year. On the feast of the Guardian Angels, verses 1–5 and 10 are read, skipping all that unpleasant business about scandal and cutting off members and everlasting fire. Here’s how it appears in Nabbish:

The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. […skipping…] “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

The Novus Ordo for the feast of the Archangels reads John 1:47–51, where Our Lord says to Nathanael “you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Not bad, but not the traditional Gospel read for centuries on this feast. As for May 8th, there isn’t even a memory of it in the new missal.

But the old rite is not yet finished with Matthew 18. Not at all.

On October 3, the traditional feast of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus—since October 1 was taken up by the feast of St. Remigius or St. Remi, the “Apostle to the Franks” and the bishop who baptized Clovis I with 3,000 additional converts, marking a major point in the Christianization of the Frankish kingdom—we are given the first four verses of this Gospel, as is absolutely fitting:

At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, 3 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.  4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. (Mt 18:1-4)

As if this message simply can’t be drilled in too often (for indeed it contains the secret of all sanctity), Holy Mother Church, fruitful with little children as her offspring and always eager to generate more, appoints the first five verses of Matthew 18 on three other feast days during the year: (1) St. John Bosco, on January 31; (2) St. John Baptist de la Salle on May 15; (3) St. Joseph Calasanctius on August 27. Here is how the Gospel reads with the fifth verse added back:

At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who thinkest thou is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? 2 And Jesus calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them, 3 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. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And he that shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me. (Mt 18:1-5)

You see the subtlety of the approach. With St. Michael and the Guardian Angels, the passage included verses on protecting children from harm and the punishments that will come to those who inflict harm on the little ones, with a reminder that one must do a certain violence to oneself, that is, practice asceticism or mortification, in order to enter the kingdom of God (cf. Mt 11:12). With St. Thérèse, the emphasis is squarely on “become as little children” and “humble oneself.” With the three saints of charity, Bosco, de la Salle, and Calasanctius—all of them educators and, so to speak, “rescuers” of children—the emphasis shifts a little to receiving one little child in the name of Jesus and thus receiving Jesus Himself.

Thus, we have the beginning of Matthew 18 being utilized seven times in the traditional lectionary, all of them required (no options):

September 29	St. Michael the Archangel	Mt 18:1–10
October 2	Holy Guardian Angels	Mt 18:1–10
October 3	St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus	Mt 18:1–4
January 31	St. John Bosco	Mt 18:1–5
May 8	Apparition of St. Michael	Mt 18:1–10
May 15	St. John Baptist de la Salle	Mt 18:1–5
August 27	St. Joseph Calasanctius	Mt 18:1–5

This is a fine example of how the old rite, not as the result of a rationalistic committee’s decision but simply by the piecemeal building up of the rite over time, ends up “hitting” us in four waves each year, like the quarterly Ember Days—in the fall (September 29–October 3), in the winter (January 31), in the spring (May 8 and 15), and in the summer (August 27)—with this supremely important message, varied just a bit to vary its impression on us, but with enough repetition to go deep into the soul. In a playful spirit, you could call them Remember Days.

A modern liturgist would look at that and say “How dreadfully monotonous! We have to clean that up.” And in fact, that’s what they did in the reform. When you get to the feast of St. Thérèse or any of the other saints mentioned, for instance (those that survived the calendar purge), you won’t hear the Gospel about becoming like a little child; you’ll just hear whatever reading the lectionary happens to have that day in its leapfrogging through the books of Scripture.[1]

In contrast, a believer would look at this repetition of a core component of the Good News and say: “How gracious is the Lord, and merciful, for by His Providence He has seen to it that I am reminded again and again of the Little Way, of the need to avoid giving scandal and the need for self-discipline, of the very real danger of not entering the kingdom of heaven upon our death (not a message one often hears in neo-Catholicism), and of the existence of angels who guard us from evil.”

All this, in contrast to a couple of appearances in the Novus Ordo of Matthew 18:1–5 and 10 (skipping verses 6–9 about scandal), if you’re lucky to catch Mass on the feast of the Guardian Angels or on the Tuesday of Week 19 per annum.

Now, in all fairness, it should be noted that some of the parallel passages to Matthew 18 from Mark and Luke are read elsewhere in the Novus Ordo, so a sprinkling of these themes can be found here or there in the three-year Sunday cycle or the two-year weekday cycle. However, a close comparison shows that the old rite presents the messages contained in Mt 18:1–10 more consistently each year. This cannot but have consequences as the faithful encounter these readings over the course of their lives.

It also seems to fit well with the difficult experience of the faithful since the Second Vatican Council. The history of the past sixty years or so has been one of almost unending scandals to the little ones, through abuses of every kind—clerical sexual abuse, liturgical abuse, clericalist and hierarchical abuse, doctrinal and catechetical abuse. We cannot undo the abuse, but Our Lord solemnly assures us that millstones and hellfire will be the lot of those who scandalized the little ones. In the end, He is just and merciful. May His mercy be upon those who fear Him, and may His justice punish the wreckers of the Church.

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[1] I call it “leapfrogging” because very often verses or whole chapters are skipped over, often the ones inclusive of “difficult” messages for Modern Man.

Pictured: The Three Archangels and Tobias by Francesco Botticini  (1446–1498)