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Gospel Reflection 20060924

Childlike TrustSeptember 24, 2006
Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 9:30-37Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will rise." But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. 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." Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, "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." Introductory Prayer: Heavenly Father, I believe in you. Teach me to be childlike in my faith and trust in you. I want to always look to please you by faithfully accomplishing your will for me.
Petition: Lord Jesus, grant me the grace of loving trust in you like that of a little child.
1. Who Is the Greatest? Just like the disciples, so many times we find ourselves looking to be the greatest. Society encourages us to do whatever it takes to be successful, to be “on top.” Frequently in our struggle to succeed we lose sight of Christ and end up relegating him to second place. Who really is the greatest in my life? Is it Jesus Christ or I myself?
2. The Secret to Success. Our Lord gives the secret to success in today’s Gospel passage: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” This is often in contradiction with the ways of the world. The Gospel teaches us that we must humble ourselves like Jesus did in order to achieve true greatness. Jesus came to serve, not to be served, and the climax of this service was his death for us on Calvary.
3. Childlike Trust. Success in the spiritual life begins with our childlike trust in God. Jesus places a child before the disciples and invites them to consider that child’s relationship of trust and simplicity before his parents. In the same way, we too must become like children before God, our heavenly Father.
Dialogue with Christ: Lord Jesus, too often I am anxious and worried about everyday things. Help me to put all my cares in your most capable hands and trust in you as a little child. I know that you love me very much. Strengthen my confidence in you.
Resolution: I will entrust my day into God’s hands and live as a child alongside his father.


REFLECTION:
Jesus foretells his death and resurrection a second time, but his disciples are still confused and frightened at the thought that He will not be with them. In a way, they did not recognize just how deeply He loved them. Our human experience is always that once a loved one dies, we no longer expect to see them on this earth. They are gone until we join them in heaven. Jesus is the only human who ever died and yet made it possible for those who love Him to continue to be near his physical presence in the Holy Eucharist. He would explain this to his disciples later.
Meanwhile, what He said about his coming betrayal all seemed too incredible and they were afraid to ask Him about it. They knew there were people in authority who wanted to get rid of Jesus, even kill Him. The part they could not envision was the rising from the dead. Denial and avoidance are typical human traits. They are mechanisms which all of use at one time or another to keep us from having to deal with an unpleasant issue. Even in matters of faith, many of us use denial and avoidance when we are not comfortable with, or persuaded by, or unable to defend one of His teachings.
How very ordinary and human of the disciples to argue among themselves over who was greatest! They understood that if Jesus were killed, one of them would have to take charge or his death would mean nothing in the end. One of them would undertake the task of pushing Christ’s mission forward toward its goal of converting all souls to the Kingdom of God. Which of them would have the greatness to do all that?
Greatness in God’s eyes is measured by humility and service to others, a principle put into practice by Jesus. As future leaders of his Church, the apostles must put aside all aspirations for worldly honor and attention in order to serve Christ more faithfully and effectively. Jesus identifies himself with all people, especially the poor and afflicted. His entire ministry was marked by concern for the disadvantaged. By serving others, we serve Christ. By performing works of mercy for others we hope to find mercy for ourselves.
The child represents those who are weak and helpless. Welcoming them with affection is tantamount to serving both Jesus and the Father. A child looks at the world with fresh, interested eyes. Being childlike will open the eyes of the disciples as well as our own eyes to Christ’s teaching about greatness. A child has no power and is usually on the receiving end of things. The person who does the giving is the one with the power. Jesus thus indicates that the ministry of His disciples will involve serving the needs of the world’s helpless and powerless who are usually those who are treated unfairly or not treated at all!

1 John 3:17-18
If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.
We are called to bring the values of our gospel and the life that Jesus lived and calls us to live to all people. James’ epistle last week bluntly stateed that faith without works is a dead faith. King, Ghandi, Sadat and Romero all stepped out in answer to that call and all suffered a violent end at the hands of people who today’s first reading from the book of Wisdom simply call “the wicked”. Each time the same question wells up in our minds and hearts – why?
The gospel not only raises the question but it answers it as well. The gospel answers the question with the face of Jesus Christ. In his life and in his message the mystery of the cross is ever present – the mystery is that the cross lies directly on the path to resurrection. The mystery of that cross is that there is no other path around it – you must pass through that cross. Working for God does not mean that we will prosper according to this world’s standards. The just must trust that God will bring deep fruit from their actions.
There is another aspect to the question in today’s scripture. Not only does the question rise within us of why the good suffer but it also raises the query of how we ourselves might be a part of the persecution of the just.
Now I realize that no one here was part of any direct action against people like King, Ghandi, Sadat or Romero. However, there is great injustice in our world and the question of the scripture to us is are we, in the face of the evils of poverty, of war, of abortion, of capital punishment, of discrimination, of abuse of children, of failure to care for older people…in the face of all the other ills of our society…are we silent? The Holocaust needs to stand always as a constant reminder of the kinds of persecution, the kinds of evil that can happen when people fail to speak and act. Twisting the words slightly of a phrase popular in the 1960’s – “if we are not part of the solution we are part of the problem”.
We are good people…we try to do good…we work for worthy causes…we hold certain values for life…and we are often misunderstood or even attacked. We take a public stand, we march in protest, we speak out on an issue of conscience and often it brings us a sense of failure (nothing has changed) or even loss of friends. It is easy to become weary. It is easy not to engage in actively working for peace and justice in the first place with the idea that my little piece will make no difference. It is easy to give up – but, in giving up, are we not becoming silent? Silence as we have seen allows wrongs, allows persecutions, to continue without hope of change.
I take to heart a response that Sr. Joan Chittister made in an interview when asked about working for years on an issue of social justice and seeing no evidence of change either happening or about to happen. She said working for justice is often like snow flakes accumulating on the branch of a tree – they continue to pile up and the branch look as unmovable as ever – then one day one more snowflake falls and becomes that final one that causes the branch to break. We have a saying about the straw that breaks the camels back. Same thing – we know not the hour.
Answering the call of Jesus to action may bring us discomfort, may bring us pain and may bring us loss. However, to be silent in the face of injustice is to fail to head the call of Jesus Christ – silence in the face of injustice fails the faith we profess.




How many of us have heard (or even used) the phrase, "Children should be seen and not heard"? If we think about it, that phrase-children should be seen and not heard-is very demeaning because it shows kids to be of no or very little worth. And, that is just the opposite of how Jesus saw little children.
He saw children as people-as real-who are to be loved and respected as much as any adult. To be sure, Jesus was not naïve about children. He knew that children already contain all of the ingredients of sin. These ingredients are mainly dormant, to be sure, but they are still there. To bring it up to today, how many of us parents have ever had to teach our children to do wrong?!
Many of us tend to evaluate people in terms of the job they do. We tend to look up to doctors, lawyers, priests, bankers, etc. while we don't exactly admire janitors, garbage collectors or used car dealers. That is both unfair and silly, isn't it? All people are worthy of our respect, regardless of what they do for a living. After all, the human being is far more important than the job they have.
So, when Jesus in today's Gospel, asks His disciples what they were discussing, all they could do was to be quiet. They knew that Jesus respected everyone, not just the people whom the 'world' respects.
Here was Jesus, their leader, on His last journey towards Jerusalem and death and all the disciples could discuss was who was going to be the greatest among them in heaven. After hearing this, Jesus must have wanted to pull out whatever hair He had left out of frustration. Three years of teaching and loving them, and all they got out of it was this-class superiority! Give me a break!!
How often must Jesus have told His disciples that the kingdom of heaven was not about seeking honor and glory and power for oneself, but it was about serving others. If they were prepared to serve others, then and only then could they have a top place in His kingdom.
But, you know what? Most likely the people in the top spots in heaven will not be sitting in soft chairs sipping the drink of their choice. Most likely, they will be on their knees with a wash basin of water in one hand and a towel in the other, washing the feet of 'the little ones'-the weakest-the children of our community.


In our Gospel Reading, Saint Mark tells us that Jesus and his disciples began a journey through Galilee. Jesus could already see that little time was left for him on earth and he wanted to prepare the apostles so that they would faithfully continue his mission. While traveling, he told them about his death and his resurrection. He said that he would be handed over to men and that he would have to die but that he would rise again. What he was saying to the apostles was too difficult for them to understand. They already had an entirely different idea about the kingdom that the Messiah had come to establish. Since they did not understand, it doesn’t seem that they were interested in what the Lord was explaining so they began to talk among themselves. This attitude is the same attitude that we see around us sometimes today.
Clearly, the Lord felt sad. He was trying to explain to them everything that would happen. He knew that it would be painful and cruel. And the apostles, his friends, did not pay attention; they did not seem to grasp the seriousness of what he was saying. With indifference, they began to argue among themselves over who among them would be in charge of the others. Even though Jesus knew what they were discussing as they were on the road to Capernaum, when they arrived he asked them about what they were arguing about on the way. We think we can discern what the Lord was feeling. Let us focus on this. He was preparing his closest followers and all he could see in them was little faith and much personal ambition. Precisely what he had always taught them, even with his own example, was that they should be humble, leaving behind ambition, helping others and making themselves small before others. So he said to them, disapprovingly, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Much time has passed since the events that Saint Mark recounts in this Gospel Reading. But we can see that today there continue to be rivalries between people who seek to be first. There continue to be people who think, “first me, and always, me.” We can see all around us that what flourishes is narrow-mindedness, selfishness and little disposition to be humble. In the Second Reading the Apostle Saint James warns his community against these attitudes, telling them that where there is rivalry, selfishness and envy, there is disorder. And there is where sin and all kinds of evil acts occur. He exhorts them, asking, “From where do the wars and the conflicts among you come?” Without doubt, if the Apostle Saint James were to be among us today he would ask us the same question. Furthermore, he would also say, “these conflicts among you come because of your passions. You covet and, precisely because you covet so much, you do not find what you crave. You burn with envy and harm others. You fight among yourselves. These are the reasons that you can never achieve anything.” Many do not know how to ask humbly ask God for what they need. Others do ask but they ask poorly. They only seek to obtain personal satisfaction. That is why God does not bless them, does not help them, and they will never receive what they pray for until they change their conduct.
My sisters and brothers, Saint James shows us that in his times there were many people who did evil things. They went about full of pride, they could not stand anyone telling them that what they were doing was wrong and they could not tolerate anyone who followed God righteously. Today we also have people who continue to do the same things. This attitude is completely opposed to what Christ taught and continues to teach. He asks us, as he asked his followers then, to humbly serve others. He reminds us that we have to make ourselves small if we want to be great. The Apostle Saint James tells us that those who attain the wisdom that comes from above love peace. They are merciful, impartial and sincere. And they will be the ones who will be called upon to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then as usual our Gospel fleshes out the I st Reading by Our Lord clearly predicting his death and Resurrection. Our life after death is a clear message.
Then our Lord takes this message steps farther by suggesting what our response could be. When Jesus placed the child before the disciples he was telling ihem and us that our salvation was to become like little children in the eyes of God.
Children at the time of Christ were completely at the mercy of their parents especially the father. Remember that Abraham was about to kill Issac before God stopped him. Cursing or striking a parent was a capital offense.
So then our message today is both very inspiring and educational.
We all know how we tend to focus on our problems as being the worst in the world. I believe many of us feel that way l know I do when we think we need to solve our problems all by ourselves.
We overlook God's message of today telling us to be like little children and give Him our cares each day. God has made each of us different so that He can treat us differently depending upon our needs. The problem comes when we fail to put Our Lord first like He tells us today.
We can see the Blessings others have received and fail to see that these may not be good for us. Only Our Lord knows our needs .We only need to learn to pay better attention. I'm sure all of us could recall times when we were very upset with God because we feltlike we lost out on some goal we felt we deserved only to discover maybe years later that that "blessing" would have been a curse to us.
My twin brother and I had an experience that could probably qualify in 1946. We had finished Basic training in the Army and were looking forward to occupation duty in Japan with our comrades. We were upset to learn we were part of the company that was not going to Japan We did not learn for several months that our Dad had requested this because we had already lost a brother to the War.
It was not until years later that we learned that that duty could have been hazardous due to radiation.
I believe a true story an old monk told me maybe says it best. The monk told of the High School champion pole vaultor who was paralyzed in a jump a few months ago and now would no longer be able to walk. this boy had been #1 in the State, President of the Class and very popular. The Principal of the school asked him to talk to the new group of jumpers.
The boy was wheeled out on to the stage and started his talk. He told the group that he prayed everyday that none of them would ever suffer such a fate. Then he paused and very slowly said "unless it is what you need to become closer to God." You pould hear a pin drop as he explained his "new" faith. The same is true for us if we can only see like this young man that our God is always with us to give us the peace of Christ if we will only put Him #1 in our lives.
This passage from Mark 9 is the third prediction Jesus has made concerning his death and resurrection. We heard the first prediction in last Sunday's gospel (Mk 8:27-34). Peter correctly answers Jesus' question, "Who do you say I am?" "You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God." But then when Jesus explains the Son of Man will have to suffer, be put to death on a cross, then rise three days later. Peter argues with the Lord, "May this never happen to you." Peter and the apostles do not yet understand what Jesus' mission involves.
Mark's gospel then proceeds with Jesus staling that those who wish to be his disciples must pick up their own cross and walk in his footsteps daily (Mk 8:34). The man who loses his life for my sake will find it, and those who try to preserve their life will lose it (Mk 8:35-36)." This call to imitate Jesus' Way is followed by the story of the Transfiguration, a gospel story we heard on August 6. After that theophany, Jesus tells his disciples "not to tell anyone what they have see until he had rose from the dead, (the second prediction). "And they continued to discuss among themselves, 'What did rise from the dead mean?' (Mk 9:9-10)."
We can see a regression on the part of the apostles every time Jesus predicts his approaching death and resurrection. From Peter's arguing with Jesus, to their questioning among themselves, to today's reaction, "Though they failed to understand his words, they were afraid to question him." They find it hard to accept that the Son of Man will have to suffer before he is glorified.
The great paradox of today's gospel is that while Jesus is predicting the Son of Man will suffer, lay down his life in humility and rejection for the sake of others, the apostles are arguing among themselves over who is the greatest. Jesus is trying to show them the path to greatness is the path of selflessness, humility, and service especially to the littleones, who represent the "anawim" (the poor and forgotten).
If we are honest with ourselves, we know we are like the apostles and want to share in the glory, the thrill of the crowd, the warm and glowing feelings that comes from recognizing God's blessings. But do we also embrace the sufferings and crosses in our life? Do we seek the path of humility and service, especially to the weak, the helpless, and the vulnerable? Do we embrace "the little children" in our lives? These are the ones society would rather brush aside and forget: the poor, the mentally ill, the disabled, the victims of AIDS. Do we imitate Jesus and serve the needs of others, especially the poor?
The apostles at this point in their lives are like the bidders in the opening story who came to the auction. They are interested in power, status, prestige. They fail at first to comprehend the paradox, that the Way of Jesus, the way of humility, service, and self denial, is the path to greatness. The inheritance is ours if we but follow his path of humble service.
The moral of the opening story, and today's gospel story is the same: God gave us his only son 2000 years ago. The son rescued many people by laying down his life. The Father's will is that we will choose the son and his humble, servant way. Much like the auctioneer the message of God is: "The son, the son, who 'II take the son?" The one who chooses the son is the one who walks the humble path of the cross. He is the one who will inherit everything. Those who seek after the riches, power and prestige of this world will go away empty-handed.
The Son, the Son! Who will follow my Son? The one who follows the Way of Jesus will inherit everything!

posted by Mike Young @ 6:01 AM