TWENTYFIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE B WISDOM 2

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TWENTYFIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE B WISDOM 2


TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

CYCLE B


Wisdom 2: 12, 17-20

James 3:16-4:3

Mark 9: 30-37


Theme: Serve, not be served!!


Scripture scholars almost unanimously agree that Mark’s gospel was the first written. Essentially all of Mark’s gospel is contained in both Matthew and Luke’s account, consequently it most likely was written before either of them. A second reason for the belief in Mark’s gospel as the first written is Mark’s treatment of the apostles. Not only does Mark give us the most “human” look at Jesus, with him experiencing the joy, pain, fear, anger, etc. that we all do, but Mark also gives us the most human look at the apostles as well. Today’s passage is a perfect example.

Imagine the poor disciples. They are part of a poor, working class people who have been waiting hundreds of years for a messiah who would deliver them from bondage. They have been following Jesus, whom they dreamed would be The Messiah that would return the Kingdom of Israel to power. They have seen Jesus heal the sick, cast out demons, and perform miraculous deeds.

You will recall that is last week’s Gospel, Jesus rebuked Peter because Peter could not accept the idea of Jesus, as the Messiah, suffering, much less being put to death. In today’s Gospel passage, Peter, James and John have returned from the Mount of Transfiguration with Jesus and seen Him glorified by God. Now Jesus is telling them for the second time that he will surrender himself into the hands of those who will kill him. Obviously the Transfiguration experience did little to affect the attitudes of Peter and the rest of the apostles. The disciples just do not understand. They simply cannot fathom the need for the Messiah to suffer. They are afraid to question Jesus because they are afraid of how He might answer. Instead, they worry only about their own status as followers of “the messiah.” Their conversation centers around who was the greatest among themselves.

Jesus knows the disciples do not understand why he must be handed over and killed. He tells the disciples, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and the servant of all”. Jesus’s message hasn’t changed. Nor has the behavior of His disciples changed that much over the centuries. Being “first” is very important in our culture. Second place is seldom good enough. We all want our children to be successful, just as our parents wanted us to be “successful.” For the most part, our kids expect to succeed because that is all they know. It’s the American dream! Unfortunately, we’ve lost sight of the fact that we shouldn’t be so concerned about our status with each other but rather be concerned with our status when compared to the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus used a parable in action, a concrete, living example to show His disciples and us what it means to be His followers. He used a child to illustrate his point. Children possessed no rights and absolutely no status. They were on a par with slaves. Jesus called attention to a group who in reality was considered a nongroup, nonpersons. Jesus puts his arms around the child and embraces him. The child, who has no bank account, no learned degrees, no office staff, no brass nameplate and no expertise, has everything. In his total vulnerability, he is wrapped in the arms of Christ. But here is the important thing! Jesus does not present the child as the one whom the disciples should model. The model is the person who takes care of the child. “Whoever welcomes a child such as this for my sake welcomes me.” In the ancient world, to be the servant of someone important might make you an important person; it might even lead to wealth, but to be the servant of an unimportant person, such as a child, made you doubly unimportant.

The child is typical of the person who needs things, and it is the company of the person who needs things that disciples must seek. Certainly, it is easy and even pleasant to cultivate the friendship of those who can do things for us and whose influence can be helpful to our purpose. Similarly, it is equally easy to avoid the company of the person who inconveniently needs our help. Our goal should not be to “do the easy thing” for those who can help us. Rather, we are to seek out and help those whose life is not easy, those who cannot help us, those who cannot repay us.

Lastly, in the Letter of Saint James, we are told in the last verse of today’s passage, “You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions”. James reminds us of the power of prayer. He insists that we do not have what we need because we do not ask for the right stuff! Prayer is the way we learn the Will of God and conform our will to the Will of God. Prayer should be about conversion, not about what we are lacking in comparison to others around us.

True greatness is found in the lives we touch, in the joy we bring into our world, in the holy and sacred we make real for family and friends. In the Kingdom of God, one’s ability to forgive is more prized than one’s wealth; one’s faithfulness to family and friends is more cherished than one’s job title; one’s integrity and humility are more honored than one’s fame. Jesus asks us to measure ourselves by our humility and our service. We are not to aspire to power, authority, status or wealth. We are to aspire to simplicity, to reliance and trust in God.




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11/28/2021





Tags: cycle b, ordinary, wisdom, twentyfifth, sunday, cycle