Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time B
Two
names seemed to dominate the news this week:
Donald
Trump and Pope Francis.
Tempting
though it is,
I’m
not going to tell a joke about either one of them;
truth
be told…I couldn’t find any appropriate for repeating in church.
But
as Fr. Scott has been saying in recent days:
just
imagine being a fly on the wall
if
those two ever sit down together to chat!
Donald
Trump and Pope Francis
are
two men both striving for greatness…
…but
they’re working from very different definitions
of
what it means to be great,
and therefore taking very different paths to get there.
I
suspect we’ve all heard plenty
of the things Mr. Trump has had to say lately.
But
did you hear what the Holy Father said near the end of last week?
While
preaching at daily Mass last Friday, the Pope said:
“If
you were to find a person
who
has never, ever spoken ill of another,
[that
person] could be canonized immediately.”
That’s
quite a statement!
The
Pope was speaking about the temptation we all face
to
point a condemning finger at others…
…and
I’m afraid there won’t be too many of us—myself included—
ready
for immediate canonization.
The
Pope is reminding us—much like St. James—
that
the source of disorder and conflict in the world
is
our jealousy and ambition, our possessiveness and insincerity.
If
we could just eliminate speaking ill of one another,
we’d
be well on our way to a world marked instead
by
peace and mercy and the good fruits of righteousness.
Much, much easier said than done!
As
Pope Francis continues,
“All
of us could say, ‘This is beautiful, eh!
But
Father…how does one do it? How
does it start?
What is the first step in order to take this path?’”
What is the first step in order to take this path?’”
The
Pope’s answer is straightforward:
the
first step is finding “the courage to blame oneself.”
When
I find myself dwelling on another’s faults,
I
need to stop and consider my own errors and weakness.
When
I feel the need to comment on some else’s flaws,
I
need to stop and instead think about my own.
Most
of the time,
when
we speak harshly or critically of others—
whether
it’s someone near and dear to us,
a religious
or political leader,
or
someone famous we only know from the Internet or TV—
it
says much more about us than it says
about them.
How
clearly that plays out this Sunday
in our reading from the Book of Wisdom!
Speaking
ill of my neighbor
actually
speaks more to my own insecurities:
a
poor attempt to build myself up by tearing someone else down—
a
strategy, although often tried, that’s never been known to work.
And
so Pope Francis’ advice to blame yourself
means
asking,
“Why
does this person make me feel and think this way?
What
is it that’s inside of me that causes
this strong reaction?”
When
the Son of God came in our human flesh,
he
turned the world’s notion of greatness upside down.
Society—both
ancient and modern—
says
that greatness is about having power;
it’s
about having possessions;
it’s
about having people to do your bidding;
it’s
about taking the first place
and
getting everybody to listen to whatever you have to say.
Jesus,
on the other hand, teaches us—
by
his example even more than his words—
that
real greatness has nothing at all to do
with
popularity or power.
Real
greatness isn’t about selfish ambition,
but
about freely taking the last place.
It’s
not about being served,
but
about serving others—
and
being unafraid to do so even to the point of suffering and death.
To
be great is to be “the servant of all”:
serving
not only the influential,
but
those of no importance, those most vulnerable;
serving
those who—like a little child—
will
have no way to ever repay us;
even
serving those of whom we’re tempted
to speak with harsh words.
to speak with harsh words.
“In
order to recognize a person as a saint,” said Pope Francis,
“there
is a whole process, there must be a miracle,
and
then the Church proclaims him a saint.
But
if you were to find a person
who
has never, ever, spoken ill of another,
he
could be canonized immediately.
It’s
beautiful, isn’t it?”
Yes,
Holy Father: beautiful, indeed!
When
Jesus catches the Twelve
arguing
amongst themselves on the way,
they’re
actually partly right:
we are all called to greatness—
we’re
all called to holiness, all called to be
saints.
May
the Lord give us the courage to strive for the highest goals
and
flee every temptation to be merely mediocre.
May
God free us from the fear of failure
and
enable us to aspire to true greatness,
following Jesus Christ on the pathway of humility:
humble enough to blame ourselves,
humble enough to be the servant of all.
following Jesus Christ on the pathway of humility:
humble enough to blame ourselves,
humble enough to be the servant of all.
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