Word to the Wise
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - Tuesday in the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time
[James 4:1-10 and Mark 9:30-37]"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 who receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me."
To counteract the argument among the disciples about who was Number One in their group, Jesus chooses a child and hugs it. In the Greco-Roman world, which dominated the Mediterranean cultures, there was no virtue in being a child. There were certainly no Child Protection Agencies, etc. A child was utterly at the mercy of the head of the household who could, if he chose, sell the child into slavery! By embracing the child, Jesus chose a person without any rights or protection or power whatsoever - truly the least in society - and makes that person the model of faith (and of power!) in his kingdom! To give up all personal security and power to accept Jesus is not an easy model in our individualist/consumerist society! The reality of the church is often exactly the opposite where clergy and laity alike are drawn to the exercise of power. We even speak of "empowering" this or that kind of person! Anyone who has been charged with responsibility for a parish or Catholic student center can testify to the frustrations that arise with people "jockeying for power." "Turf" battles are ever simmering! Unfortunately, models at the highest levels of Church leadership are often lacking, so the lack of humility at lower levels should not be surprising. St. Paul says, "It is when I am weak that I am strong...." Embracing that paradox demands a real asceticism of the human spirit, but Jesus' teaching and example challenge us to do exactly that! AMEN
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