Word to the Wise
Wednesday, May 25, 2016 - Wednesday in the 8th Week in Ordinary Time
[1 Pet 1:18-25 and Mark 10:32-45]"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant..." [Mark]
James and John have come a long way from the fishing business they had when Jesus called them to be disciples. Indeed, they are shown in the gospels to be, along with Peter, a kind of executive committee. Jesus includes them in a number of experiences which the other ten don't get to share - e.g. the Transfiguration. It might be natural that they would expect some kind of position in the future "kingdom" that Jesus was preaching. Their models for shaping this kind of position would have been Gentile authorities like Pontius Pilate and the Herodian princes. Jesus has to set them and the other ten apostles straight. His kingdom is nothing like anything they have experienced.
The great 19th century English Catholic layman, Lord Acton, is noted for a sentence in one of his letters to an English bishop: "Power corupts. Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely." He was writing about Pope Pius IX! Pope Francis has been speaking out against the ambition for power that is part of any large bureaucratic apparatus, and that would include our Church. Just before Christmas 2014, he unloaded a long list of things that he could see happening in the Vatican curia! The problem is not just theirs. it is duplicated on the diocesan and parochial level.
Jesus clearly teaches that the best kind of power is the power that is expressed in service, and not in ruling over others. We could all benefit from an examination of conscience about how power is exercised in our Church. Jesus has definite expectations. Do ours match his? AMEN
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