The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to accept the difficult tasks of our journey that open us to experience love and compassion that is the measure of greatness.
The reading from the Book of Sirach presents our duties towards God.
* [2:1–11] Serving the Lord is not without its trials (v. 1); but no matter what happens, the genuine believer will remain sincere, steadfast, and faithful (vv. 2–3). Misfortune and humiliation are means of purification to prove one’s worth (vv. 4–5). Ben Sira believed that patience and unwavering trust in God are ultimately rewarded with the benefits of God’s mercy and of lasting joy (vv. 6–11). (Sirach, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB, n.d.)
Psalm 37 is an Exhortation to Patience and Trust.
* [Psalm 37] The Psalm responds to the problem of evil, which the Old Testament often expresses as a question: why do the wicked prosper and the good suffer? The Psalm answers that the situation is only temporary. God will reverse things, rewarding the good and punishing the wicked here on earth. The perspective is concrete and earthbound: people’s very actions place them among the ranks of the good or wicked. Each group or “way” has its own inherent dynamism—eventual frustration for the wicked, eventual reward for the just. The Psalm is an acrostic, i.e., each section begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each section has its own imagery and logic. (Psalms, PSALM 37 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus again foretells His Death and Resurrection and the disciples ask “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. (Mark, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB, n.d.)
Rev. Martha Slocombe invites us to start noticing how often we are truly listening in a conversation and how often we are simply waiting in a conversation.
How do you think God listens to us? In Mark 9 Jesus brings a child into his arms, and today God listens to our prayers lovingly and patiently, no matter how childish or whiny or privileged they may be from God's perspective. Jesus shows us what it means to welcome those with the least power. We are called to offer the same welcome to those in our midst whom we deem the least important or powerful: the ones who seemingly have nothing to offer us. So go out this week and use your power to welcome into conversation those whom in the past you would have ignored or brushed off. (Slocombe, 2025)
Don Schwager quotes “Downward roots enable upward growth,” by 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) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 9:30-37 comments that in the kingdom of God, greatness lies not in being noticed or praised but in being a servant.
Service and sacrifice are like any skill; if you want to develop it, you need to practice. So stay up later to put away the dishes or take on an extra responsibility at work without being noticed. Every time you put someone else’s needs ahead of your own, you are setting aside your desire to be great and instead reflecting the greatness of your Savior.
“Lord, give me the grace to desire to be last.” (Meditation on Mark 9:30-37, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on our sometimes confusion expressed in Sirach as we seek the Wisdom of God. Our trust of God is demonstrated in an attitude of awe and wonder towards the compassion and mercy extended to us. Friar Jude reminds us that serving the child exhorts us to not expect return except in the joy of service.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, and theologian Matthew Fox introduce the life and teachings of German mystic Meister Eckhart.
The inner person is the soil in which God has sown the divine likeness and image and in which God sows the good seed, the roots of all wisdom, all skills, all virtues, all goodness—the seed of the divine nature…. This is the good tree of which our Lord says that it always bears good fruit and never evil fruit. For it desires goodness and is inclined toward goodness….
The seed of God is in us. If the seed had a good, wise, and industrious cultivator, it would thrive all the more and grow up to God whose seed it is, and the fruit would be equal to the nature of God. Now, the seed of a pear tree grows into a pear tree, a hazel seed into a hazel tree, the seed of God into God…. While this seed may be crowded, hidden away, and never cultivated, it will still never be obliterated. It glows and shines, gives off light, burns, and is unceasingly inclined toward God. (Rohr, n.d.)
We can identify with Jesus' disciples in our concern about who is the greatest and how we process the link with greatness to our care for the least among us.
References
Mark, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 25, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/9?30
Meditation on Mark 9:30-37. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved February 25, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/02/25/1210351/
Psalms, PSALM 37 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 25, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/37?3
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Preacher. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 25, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/meister-eckhart-a-mystic-preacher/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). Who Is the Greatest in God's Kingdom? Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 25, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2025&date=feb25
Sirach, CHAPTER 2 | USCCB. (n.d.). USCCB. Retrieved February 25, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/sirach/2?1
Slocombe, M. (2025, February 25). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved February 25, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/022525.html
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