Today I want to focus on a key word from today’s gospel and shed some light on its translation. Jesus, embraces a child and says, “Whoever RECEIVES one child such as this in MY name RECEIVES ME…” THIS biblical translation uses the word “receives,” a word that is pivotal to the core message of the gospel. But, in the New Living Translation, the word “welcomes” is used in its place. In Greek these words are synonyms. But when we swap them out, the sentence reads, “Whoever WELCOMES one child such as this in my name, WELCOMES me; and whoever welcomes me, WELCOMES not me, but the one who sent me.”
“Receives” vs “welcomes.” Receives has more of a mechanical feel to it. You might say, “I received an email from Fr. George.” Read More