The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to examine our conversion and assess how our actions serve others and bring peace.
Loving Service
The reading from the Book of Wisdom indicates the conflict righteous living has with the world.
* [2:12–5:23] From 2:12 to 5:23 the author draws heavily on Is 52–62, setting forth his teaching in a series of characters or types taken from Isaiah and embellished with additional details from other texts. The description of the “righteous one” in 2:12–20 seems to undergird the New Testament passion narrative.1
Psalm 54 is a prayer for vindication.
* [Psalm 54] A lament in which the person under attack calls directly upon God for help (Ps 54:3–5). Refusing to despair, the psalmist hopes in God, who is active in history and just (Ps 54:6–7). The Psalm ends with a serene promise to return thanks (Ps 54:8–9).2
The reading from the Letter of James examines friendship with the world and causes of division.
* [4:1–3] Passions: the Greek word here (literally, “pleasures”) does not indicate that pleasure is evil. Rather, as the text points out (Jas 4:2–3), it is the manner in which one deals with needs and desires that determines good or bad. The motivation for any action can be wrong, especially if one does not pray properly but seeks only selfish enjoyment (Jas 4:3).3
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus foretells His Death and Resurrection while the disciples argue about ‘Who Is the Greatest?.’
* [9:33–37] Mark probably intends this incident and the sayings that follow as commentary on the disciples’ lack of understanding (Mk 9:32). Their role in Jesus’ work is one of service, especially to the poor and lowly. Children were the symbol Jesus used for the anawim, the poor in spirit, the lowly in the Christian community.4
Fr. Richard Gabuzda, (from 2015) comments that focus on self remains in direct opposition to focus on God. No one can move toward God who remains focused on the self. The spiritual tradition of eastern Christianity names philautia, the love of self, as the “queen of all vices.” This remains true for all, but what of those “closest to Jesus”?
In a passage of his apostolic exhortation on evangelization, Pope Francis speaks to all those who work “in and for the Church,” cautioning them about the temptation to “spiritual worldliness.” That is, he warns about attitudes and behaviors that seek “not the Lord’s glory but human glory and personal well-being.” This, he goes on to say, can take on many forms, depending on the kinds of persons and groups into which it seeps. How can we avoid this? Pope Francis: “. . . by making the Church constantly go out from herself, keeping her mission focused on Jesus Christ, and her commitment to the poor.”5
Don Schwager quotes “Downward roots enable upward growth,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Observe a tree, how it first tends downwards, that it may then shoot forth upwards. It fastens its root low in the ground, that it may send forth its top towards heaven. Is it not from humility that it endeavors to rise? But without humility it will not attain to higher things (Proverbs 18:12). You are wanting to grow up into the air without a root. Such is not growth, but a collapse." (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, SERMON 38.2)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 9:30-37 comments that, like the disciples, we might think of service in terms of quantity and impact.
What makes you a servant? Your willingness to welcome Jesus no matter how he comes to you. If you’re willing to “waste” your time with a child or any other vulnerable person, you’re a servant. If you’re willing to imitate Jesus’ humility as he washed his disciples’ feet, you’re a servant. If you’re willing to imitate his compassion as he stood up for a woman caught in adultery, you’re a servant. Jesus promised that those who become “the last of all and the servant of all” are the “first” (Mark 9:35). May we all learn how to live in the humility and lowliness of Christ. “Jesus, give me the heart of a servant. Give me your heart of love.”7
Friar Jude Winkler notes the disturbance in the wicked caused by people living the right life. Our passions call us away from living in peace. Our emotional response to situations may signal our need for self examination. Friar Jude reminds us that altruistic total giving is visible when the recipient cannot repay our efforts.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, sees an opportunity for each of us to rediscover a “soulful” relationship with money. Religion allowed itself to lose the only ground on which awe and transcendence stand—the foundation of totally gratuitous and “amazing grace.” We traded it for… a secretly enthroned ego that only knows how to count, weigh, measure, dole out, judge, label, earn, expel, and compete. No wonder Jesus’ direct action in the Temple that exposed the idolatrous game got him killed within a week! All four Gospels in some form speak of “turning over the tables” of buying and selling. [2] Even with this forceful gospel teaching, our faith became transactional instead of transformational, calculating instead of consoling. Lynne Twist, founder of the Soul of Money Institute, understands the impact that our culture’s disintegrated view of money has made and invites us to the spiritual practice of bringing the two—money and our souls—together in our lives.
In a world that seems to revolve around money, it is vital that we deepen our relationship with our soul and bring it to bear on our relationship with money. In that merger and that commitment, we can create a new and profound spiritual practice. We can have our money culture both balanced and nourished by soul. Our relationship with money can become a place where, day in and day out, we can engage in this meaningful spiritual practice. [3]8
The promptings of the Spirit point to the complementary nature of the grace of a peaceful life and the service of others.
References
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