Homily for Sept. 30th,
2013: Luke 9:46-50.
“An argument
arose among them about which of them was the greatest.” So what else is new? we
ask. The argument continued at the Last Supper (cf. Lk. 22:24). It continues
today: we clergy are especially susceptible. Even canonized saints have engaged
n the contest for position and honor. We celebrated one of them last Friday:
St. Vincent de Paul. He decided to be a priest, even managing to get himself
ordained several years before the minimum age, because he thought priesthood was
a career, rather than a service. Only years later did he come to realize his
error, acknowledging it with the words: “If I had known what priesthood was all
about, as I have come to know since, I would rather have tilled the soil than
engage in such an awesome state of life.” In an attempt to put a damper on this contest
about greatness, Pope Francis recently put at least a temporary stop on the
granting to priests of the honorific title of “Monsignor.”
Our gospel
reading makes it clear that Jesus didn’t overhear what his friends were arguing
about. He didn’t need to. He could read people’s thoughts. This is one of a
number of occasions in the gospels when he did so.
Jesus responds to the argument about
greatness by calling a young child to his side. “Whoever receives this child in
my name receives me,” he tells his disciples. “And whoever receives me receives
him who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is
greatest.” We grasp the full meaning of Jesus’ action and words only when we
know that he lived in a society which was anything but child-centered. In
Jesus’ world children, like women, were supposed to be seen and not heard.
When I entered seminary
just over 65 years ago, we newcomers were given a book of “Principles,” as they
were called, to guide our lives. One of them went like this: “Choose for
yourself the lowest place, not because of modesty, but because it is most fit
for you.”
I’ve never forgotten
that. Nor should you.
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