Homily
for the
25th
Sunday of Ordinary Time
Sept.
22, 2024
Mark
9: 30-37
The
Fountains, Tuckahoe, N.Y.
“If
anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all”
(Mark 9: 35).
 |
| Let the Children Come to Me (Vogelstein) |
Last week’s gospel included Jesus’ 1st prediction of his passion, death, and resurrection. Today we heard his 2d prediction. There’s a 3d one, but it doesn’t come up in our Sunday readings.
Last
week’s prediction was followed 1st by Peter’s rejection of it, Jesus’ rebuke of
Peter for thinking like a human being and not like God, and then by Jesus’
teaching that the cross is an inescapable part of our following him.
This
week’s prediction is followed by another example of the apostles’ thickheadedness: “they had been discussing among themselves on
the way who was the greatest” (9:34).
There’s an irony there: “on the
way” conjures up Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem and the fulfillment of his
destiny; early Christianity became known as “the Way,” i.e., the path of
following Jesus, including the cross.
The apostles are on that way, that path, and are oblivious to it.
This time
Jesus doesn’t warn them that they, too, will have to bear his cross. At least not in so many words. Instead, he proposes another form of
self-denial: they must become the least
in society; they must become servants (Mark uses the word diakonos,
which tells us what ordained ministers are supposed to be).
Jesus
drives his point home by placing a child in front of the 12. In the ancient world, children might have
been loved within the family, but socially they were utterly powerless,
fragile, and unimportant; mortality rates among children in cultures around the
world up till early modern times ran from 40 to more than 50%.[1]
Jesus
tells his apostles they have to be like children. Their focus isn’t to be greatness, importance,
or power, but dependence and weakness; they are to have regard for society’s
weak, fragile, and unimportant people.
They are to be “the servants of all.”
On Friday
Pope Francis addressed the department of the Roman Curia that deals with human
dignity and development.[2] He told Card. Czerny, its prefect, and the
staff that everyone has the right to land, shelter, and work, and therefore
Christians must work for social justice.
When people’s basic needs aren’t met, conflict results. “Inequality is the root of social ills,” he
said. He blamed the greed of the rich for
the plight of the poor. He said, “Blind
competition for more and more money is not a creative force, but an unhealthy
attitude and a path to hell. Such
irresponsible, immoral, and irrational behavior is destroying creation and
dividing peoples.”
St. James says the same thing: “Where do the wars and the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions…. You kill and envy but you can’t obtain; you fight and wage war” (4:1-2).
Doesn’t that sound like what we see on the news every day? Is the Pope right? Is St. James right?
Pope Francis emphasizes: “The poor are at
the center of the Gospel. It’s not the Pope
but Jesus who puts them in that place. It’s
a matter of our faith that can’t be negotiated.”
What Pope
Francis says is another way of saying that if we want to receive Jesus and the
one who sent Jesus, we must receive children, i.e., the little, the helpless,
the weak, the least in society. We must be
servants.
As we
prepare to vote, this is a principle we must keep in mind. Closer to home—here, in this little
community—how can we serve or be attentive to those in need? We could start by listening to our
companions; everyone wants to be heard, no?
We ought not cut them off or put down what they have to say. We could offer everyone a smile, maybe
accompanied by a compliment. Perhaps
someone needs help moving to the dining room or to the vehicle that will take you
on an outing. Such simple ways of
serving one another and not considering ourselves the most important, the
center of attention….
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