Greatness (Redefined!)

 

Deacon Dave · Greatness (Redefined!)

Homily for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 22, 2024. Readings - Gospel of St. Mark 9:30-37. Theme: Greatness (Redefined!) 

 Today’s Gospel has a lot packed into it, so let’s take it apart and look at it bit by bit… 

 "Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it." What a stark contrast this description is about the ministry of Jesus! Usually he is surrounded by crowds at the seashore or has a huge gathering of listeners straining to hear his every word. But now Jesus intentionally seeks privacy so that he can have quality time with just his Twelve Apostles, giving them personal instruction. Why? Because they are headed towards Jerusalem for the Passover and Jesus knows it will be the last one they spend with him, and so he is trying to prepare them for the shocking reality to come. 

 "He was teaching his disciples and telling them about his approaching Passion, but they did not understand and they were afraid to question him." Well, the Lord says quite clearly what is going to happen to him but the Apostles don’t seem to grasp it. It makes you wonder what part of “they are going to kill me” didn't they understand? Well, I think there are two reasons for their silence. First, no devout Jew raised with the idea that the Messiah was a king or a kind of “Superman” would ever think it possible for him to be overcome by his opponents. The idea just wouldn’t even enter their heads. Secondly, it could be that they had an inkling that what Jesus was saying was somehow true. After all, he had never lied to them and he seemed to know everything. So just maybe they were quiet because they were afraid to ask, afraid of his response. It’s like we sometimes say, “if you don’t want to know the answer, then don’t ask the question.

” They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” The house in Capernaum was actually the home of the brother-disciples, Peter and Andrew. Almost from the beginning of his ministry Jesus had made it his headquarters. Jesus didn’t get a reply to his question but it didn’t matter because he knew what they were arguing about. I bet he asked because he wanted to hear them say it themselves, to hear them own up to it. I am sure that they knew that Jesus knew and so out of utter embarrassment they remained silent. I think we can all relate to their silence and sense of shame in being caught in the act, like when we ourselves have been caught by surprise in the midst of a petty conversation or gossip session. 

 Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” Jesus loses no time going straight to the fact that even after living with him for several years, they were not picking up on his Message. The giving up of self out of love for God and neighbor is at the very heart and soul of the Gospel proclaimed by Jesus through both his example and his word. He gave us the primary example of this in his Incarnation. He, God the Son, humbled himself, laying aside his divine powers so as to become utterly human. Then, he lived for 30 years as a laborer in a poor working class family in a backwater village. Finally, he spent 3 years in public ministry during which he was constantly besieged by people and condemned by his opponents. Why did God freely choose to go through all of self=emptying? So that he could relate to us, be in solidarity with us, become truly one of us in all things except sin. He made himself susceptible and vulnerable, all out of love for us. And still…the disciples remain clueless. They push and shove one another for the sake of a high political position in a kingdom of their own selfish ambition and imagination! But Jesus doesn’t give up on them. He teaches them yet another lesson in humility and service by holding up a little child before them as a model and a sign. 

 “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.” To teach and illustrate to his disciples what he meant by “greatness” and whom they should seek to serve instead of the rich and influential, Jesus presented them with a child. You see, in their ancient culture, a child had no rights, no standing, no claims to anything whatsoever. A child had no clout with which to repay or reward anyone. And so Jesus is telling them - and us - that it is our attitude and treatment of the most vulnerable among us that truly proves the reality of our love for God. It is, in fact, by putting ourselves at the end of the line, so to speak, that we become great in the Kingdom of Christ. This is what it means to say that "the first shall be last and the last shall be first". 

 So it seems to me that our review of today’s Gospel is calling each one of us to examine our own attitudes and behavior. Do we have a spirit of selfish competition, trying to grab the highest place for our own benefit? Do we give special attention particularly to those who are influential and can thus repay us? What are we doing to actually show concrete care and concern for the “least” among us? Are we satisfied with merely feeling sorry for them but then simply continuing on with our own comfortable existence? Are there superfluous things in my life that I can give up and then use the money I would have spent on these things for the relief of the suffering of my neighbor? Those are important questions for sincere Christians to ask themselves.