Oct. 21, 2018: 29th Sunday B
Oct. 21, 2018 29th Sunday B
By what qualities do we measure a person’s greatness? Is it by age, by experience, by personality, or by accomplishments? A young woman volunteering at Mother Teresa’s home for the dying in Calcutta, India made this observation: “Every volunteer contributes a drop to the ocean of humanity, and it is certainly true that the ocean would be less without these drops. It is so easy to look at the big picture; to see the thousands of suffering people, and forget that we can only do small things with great love - that the one person we serve at a given moment is Jesus.” This young woman understood the very heart of Mother Teresa’s teaching, which is also the teaching of Our Lord. Our Lord said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:45)
I would think that at some point each of us has the desire to be great. In today’s Gospel passage, two brothers—James and John—show us the natural desire to receive recognition and rewards in worldly terms. Is it prideful or sinful to feel that way? There is a difference between the perspective of the worldly ways versus Godly ways. A well known public speaker said, “You were designed for accomplishment, engineered for success, and endowed with the seeds of greatness.” Compare that to Our Lord who said, “whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The greatest act of love was accomplished by Jesus on the Cross when he sacrificed his life for many. James and John, however, were seeking glory for themselves out of selfishness. Jesus’ admonition to his disciples was a reminder that the greatness of disciples would be recognized by their life of self-giving service, even if it involved setbacks, disappointments, and suffering.
The paradox of spiritual life is that one’s greatness before the eyes of God, is most evident when we are like a humble child. Jesus said, “Let the little ones come to me,” and elsewhere he said, “Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” (Luke 18:17) The gospel logic seems so counterintuitive to what’s familiar to us. The rule of thumb in our earthly world is to be honored, sought after, clever and attention-seeking. In contrast, St. Paul wrote that to be “God’s chosen ones,” is to be “holy and beloved, [clothed] . . . with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (Col 3: 12).
The opportunity to exercise compassion, kindness, humility, and patience is abundant in our ordinary lives. A security guard at a Walmart near Panama City that was closed in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael was presented with a desperate situation. He encountered a couple sitting outside their pickup truck in the Walmart parking. In the arms of the woman was a baby who was born the previous day. Because there was no room in the hospital, their home was severely damaged from hurricane, and there were no vacant hotels in the area, the couple decided to stay the night at the Walmart parking lot. Instead of demanding that they leave the property, the guard took time to find and pay for a hotel room, with air conditioning, for that couple. With little money and no permanent home, the couple was distraught and dejected, but because of the kindness of strangers like that security guard, the couple found hope that God still cared about them.
We begin to understand true greatness when we realize that before God we are nothing and we own nothing in this world except our confidence and trust in God’s mercy and love. When we realize that the Father always gazes upon His little ones, the ups and downs in the circumstances of our lives, and our failures due to our weaknesses, can become a blessing in disguise. Our helplessness humbles us and compels us to seek Jesus for his grace. Rather than curse the wrinkles of unexpected circumstances that derail our well-thought out plans, we begin to appreciate the interruption in our plan for our life as an opportunity to ponder to where Jesus is leading us and for what we should be grateful.
Today you too have an opportunity to recognize Jesus in others and clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. We know we all struggle with the closure of the Sunshine Bridge because of the additional travel time to get to the other side of the river. Could we look at this inconvenience as an opportunity to pray or call someone you haven’t seen or visited in a while? When you pass by a cemetery or a church, could we use it as an opportunity to say a quick prayer for a person who has passed? One day while I was driving an out of town priest around our area, the priest began a short prayer as we passed a cemetery, “Eternal rest grant unto them O’ Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.” When you hear a siren coming near the intersection or you see an emergency vehicle trying to pass, could we use the opportunity to say a quick prayer like, “May their Guardian Angel protect them, and may God have mercy on their soul.” Let us commit to pause and think before we react hastily regarding inconveniences, politics, disappointments, or circumstances. Everything is in God’s hands; let us use these moments as opportunities to be servants of Christ.
Another opportunity for us to be kind and compassionate is to help those who are adversely affected by recent Hurricane Michael. Today our Second Collection is for a diocesan-wide collection to benefit the victims of Hurricane Michael. Please be generous.
