OT
XXV [B] Wis
2:12, 17-20; Jas 3:16--4:3; Mk 9:30-37
At
the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the
United
Nations in 1983, the Secretary General, Javier Perez, rose from his seat to
introduce Mother Teresa to an elite gathering of the representatives of all
member countries of the U.N. He needed only one sentence for his
introduction: "I present to you the
most powerful woman in the world!"
On
March 3, 1976, conferring on Mother Teresa the highest honor of India’s Vishwa
Bharati University, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, who was at that time Prime Minister of India, said: “I feel myself dwarfed when I stand before
this holy and mighty woman who heroically showed the world how to practice
Christian love in sacrificial and humble service.” For many years, the world
watched, admired and honored this weak and elderly nun, always dressed in a
blue bordered white sari, as the incarnation of humble and sacrificing
Christian service. She was the living
proof of Jesus' words in today’s gospel that real greatness lies in serving
others. Jesus teaches his apostles that child-like humility and loving,
selfless service make one great in the eyes of God.
The lesson Jesus has been teaching by his example since the day of his birth, he now
teaches with words.
And this lesson is a big one: the nature of true success.
When Jesus and his apostles sit down to relax in Capernaum
after a day of walking the hot, dusty roads of Galilee ,
he knows exactly what they have been talking about - success, glory, greatness.
But the apostles
are too embarrassed to admit it; they suspect that their interest
in worldly success is too self-centered to be praiseworthy. But our Lord's response
is surprising. He doesn't tell them that
they shouldn't desire to excel, to achieve, to do great things.
He doesn't condemn that very normal impulse - because he knows that achieving
things, making a difference in the world, is a basic need felt by every
human heart. This is one of the purposes of our lives: being a sign of God's
goodness by making a positive
difference in the
world. So Jesus doesn't scold them for wanting to do something
great. Instead,
he tells them what true greatness really is. The great task for every Christian isn't to achieve fame, fortune, popularity,
power, and worldly success. Rather, it's the same task that Christ himself undertook: to serve others,
to make others happy, to reach out to those who are weak and in need, like little children. Greatness
in Christ's Kingdom is equated with humility,
an attitude of the heart that puts the good of others ahead
of one's own preferences:
it's self-giving, not self-getting.
He doesn't say to his apostles, "Don't strive to achieve great
things," but he does point out where true, lasting,
fulfilling greatness lies - in loving
one's neighbor as
Christ has loved them. Jesus is the Servant-Lord;
we, his faithful disciples, are called to follow in those demanding footsteps.
And at the last supper he demonstrated to them this teaching by washing the
feet of his disciples.
We never become truly great,
we never do our best work until we are "clothed with humility";
until, like our Lord and Savior, we are willing to live to serve others.
Someone has said,
"The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than
yourself, but to stand at your full height before some higher nature that will
show you how small your greatness is." "Walk humbly with thy
God." Here is where we learn true humility. Walking with God, seeing
ourselves by the side of His greatness, we see how little we are. And seeing
how little we are is the first step toward becoming what we can and ought to
be.
Benjamin Franklin, the early American statesman, made a list of character qualities that he wanted to develop in his own life. When he mastered one virtue, he went on to the next. He did pretty well, he said, until he got to humility. Every time he thought he was making significant progress, he would be so pleased with himself that he became proud. Humility is an
Benjamin Franklin, the early American statesman, made a list of character qualities that he wanted to develop in his own life. When he mastered one virtue, he went on to the next. He did pretty well, he said, until he got to humility. Every time he thought he was making significant progress, he would be so pleased with himself that he became proud. Humility is an
elusive
virtue.
There
is a story about a woman who had been trying for years to persuade her
egotistical husband to change his ways. He was obsessed with being number one.
He never stopped talking about being first in sales at the office. He
proclaimed that he was first on the list for the next promotion. He had to be
first in line to buy tickets for a game and also the first to hit the parking
lot after the game.
One
day this man's long-suffering wife watched with interest as he stepped on one
of those fortune-telling scales. He dropped a coin in the slot and out came a
little fortune-telling card that read: "You are a born leader, with
superior intelligence, quick wit, and a charming manner. You have a magnetic
personality and are attractive to the opposite sex."
"Read
that," he said to his wife with a hint of gloating. She did, and then
turned the card over and said: "It has your weight wrong too."
A
pastor who prepared a great message on humility. But he was waiting for a bigger congregation
to preach the sermon to! Another pastor was given an award for humility. A week
later, the congregation took the award back because the pastor displayed it in
his office! Without humility we can
never please God.
The
Christian vocation is an apostolate of bearing witness to Christ through loving
and humble service. Christian history
teaches us that whenever the members of Christ’s Church have forgotten or
ignored this call to service, the Church has suffered. Jesus stands conventional
wisdom on its head. The truly great person is a diakonos − a deacon − a servant
− a person who spends his/her day taking loving care of other people. Jesus
wants his apostles to substitute for their ambition to rule, thus becoming the
first, the ambition to serve, thus becoming the last. We are all supposed to be
serving in love, whatever our position or role in society, the family or the
Church may be, because true greatness lies in being the loving servant or slave
of all.
During
the holy Mass let us pray for the true spirit of service, for an attitude of
love for those around us. We need to ask
the Holy Spirit to help us to become truly great through loving, humble and
selfless service. Mother Teresa puts it like this: “Be the living expression of
God's kindness through humble service. Show kindness in your face, kindness in
your eyes, kindness in your smile and kindness in your warm greeting.”