The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge our commitment to trust in God and humbly serve those who have little standing in society.
Serving the greatest
The reading from the Book of Job describes an attack on Job’s character.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away”1
Psalm 17 is a prayer for deliverance from persecutors.
* [Psalm 17] A lament of an individual unjustly attacked. Confident of being found innocent, the psalmist cries out for God’s just judgment (Ps 17:1–5) and requests divine help against enemies (Ps 17:6–9a). Those ravenous lions (Ps 17:9b–12) should be punished (Ps 17:13–14). The Psalm ends with a serene statement of praise (Ps 17:15). The Hebrew text of Ps 17:3–4, 14 is uncertain.2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus shows the disciples true greatness and the role of another exorcist.
* [9:46–50] These two incidents focus on attitudes that are opposed to Christian discipleship: rivalry and intolerance of outsiders.3
Thomas Quinn comments that we may realize, especially in these troubled times, that we are comparatively weak creatures, but God cares for us, and trusts us to depend on, and use, all facets of our faith. When we call on the Angels and Saints for help, believe that this is possible. It is another of God’s great and merciful gifts to His struggling creatures.
The Alleluia response from Mark leads us into the themes of humility and service that are also at the heart of the gospel reading today. “The Son of Man came to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus was always able to model humility. Jesus was gentle in his teaching of humility. The apostles, nearly all of whom were, like Jesus, about thirty years old, likely found it difficult to follow a contemporary with a similar background. They not only accepted him and called him Master, Rabbi, and even The Son of God, but they chose to be his humble followers. Yet, pride must have smoldered in their young hearts, as it likely does in ours. They wished to know which of them was the greatest. Jesus answered by bringing a child next to him, and declaring, “the one who is least among you is the one who is greatest.” The humble one, the servant, is the most like Jesus. He came among us to serve, and to sacrifice himself for us. His message is always clear; be humble and love one another.4
Don Schwager quotes “Jesus, the Physician of souls, amputates vainglory,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).
"The passion and lust of pride attacked some of the holy apostles. The mere argument about who of them was the greatest is the mark of an ambitious person, eager to stand at the head of the rest. Christ, who did not sleep, knows how to deliver. He saw this thought in the disciple's mind, springing up, in the words of Scripture (Hebrews 12:15), like some bitter plant. He saw the weeds, the work of the wicked sower. Before it grew up tall, struck its root down deep, grew strong, and took possession of the heart, he tears up the evil by the very root..."In what way does the Physician of souls amputate pride’s passion? How does he deliver the beloved disciple from being the prey of the enemy and from a thing hateful to God and man? "He took a child," it says, "and set it by him." He made the event a means of benefiting both the holy apostles themselves and us their successors. This illness, as a rule, preys upon all those who are in any respect superior to other people".(excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 54.2)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 9:46-50 comments that Jesus didn’t reject or rebuke his disciples for thinking and feeling as they did. He redirected them to the heart of the gospel instead. Unity, love of neighbor, a tender heart, and a humble mind are the dispositions that should mark followers of Christ. That is what makes a person “great” in God’s eyes.
We have to be on guard not to fall into the same mindset as the disciples. The truth is, Jesus calls everyone, not just those we might perceive as “great” or worthy of following him. Furthermore, he has called each of us to fulfill a specific role in his kingdom. That could be as the leader of the meeting or as the one stacking the chairs. To him, it’s not what we do that’s as important as how we do it—with a loving heart and a sincere and humble desire to serve in whatever way is needed.6
Friar Jude Winkler reflects on the powerful literature of the Book of Job that addresses the question of why good people suffer. Everything is a gift, therefore, God is not to be cursed. Friar Jude reminds parents and grandparents of the great gift of serving the needs of children.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, is sure the Emperor Constantine thought he was doing Christians a favour when he ended official persecution and made Christianity the established religion of the empire. Yet it might be the single most unfortunate thing that happened to Christianity.
As long as the Church bore witness from the margins in some sense, and as long as we operated from a minority position, we had greater access to the truth, to the Gospel, to Jesus. In our time we have to find a way to disestablish ourselves, to identify with our powerlessness instead of our power, our dependence instead of our independence, our communion instead of our individualism. Unless we understand that, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) isn’t going to make any sense.7
The child at the right hand of Jesus demonstrates that our role as disciples is to trust God as we act in humble service of those in need.
References
No comments:
Post a Comment