“The servant of the rest”
October 18, 2009, Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 53:10-11 Hebrews 4:14-16 Mark 10:35-45
To the churched and unchurched[1]
gathered in a church not built by human hands[2]
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark
Glory to you, Lord.
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do something for us." He asked, "What is it you want me to do?" They answered him, "Grant that when you come into your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left." Jesus said to them, "You don’t know what you’re asking for. Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering from which I must drink? Or be baptized with the baptism of suffering with which I must be baptized? "We can." Jesus answered, “You will indeed drink from my cup and be baptized with My baptism, but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give. Those appointments have already been made.”
When the other disciples heard what James and John had requested they were very indignant. Jesus summoned them and said," As you know, kings and other important people of this world like to lord it over other people. But it shouldn’t be that way with you. Among you, whoever aspires to greatness must be the servant of the rest. And whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
A pope who aspired to greatness
Introduction
A pope who aspired to greatness
On the day of Pope John XXIII’s coronation, Nov. 4, 1958, (popes were crowned in those days), Cardinal Nicola Canali placed a tiara on his head, as he uttered that age-old formula:”Know that thou art the father of princes and kings, pontiff of the whole world and vicar of Christ on earth.” In his homily, however, the new pope carefully pointed out that he had in mind for his pontificate the example of Jesus the Good Shepherd who came not to be served but to serve.” (Jn 10:11; Mk 10:45) The next day John, the "prisoner of the Vatican," put his money where his mouth was and quietly sped out of elaborate Vatican gates to visit prisoners in Regina Coeli prison in Rome, (because, he quipped, they couldn't visit him), and to drop in on aging clergy in nursing homes. Then on his first Holy Thursday, the new pope in the basilica of St. Peter’s revived a long-abandoned ritual: he bent down to wash and kiss the feet of thirteen young priests. With such gestures John announced what would be the tone and tenor of his papacy: he would aspire to greatness by being the servant of all. (Mk 10:43)
A mother who didn’t aspire to greatness
In Mark’s gospel the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, request a favor from Jesus. Some time before, Jesus had promised that when He came into his glory, He would seat his twelve apostles upon thrones, and they would rule the twelve tribes of Israel. (Mt 19:28) Now James and John are taking Jesus up on his promise: ”Lord, when you sit on your throne in the glorious Kingdom, we want you to let us sit with you, one at your right and one at your left.” (Mk 10:37)
In Matthew’s gospel it is not the sons but the mother who’s making the self-seeking request: “Master, my boys have left me to follow You, so be good to us, and see to it that You don’t forget about them when You come into your kingdom." (Mt 20:21) If it is the mother who’s making such a request on her own, then she’s sending a wrong message to her sons. What’s more, she doesn’t have a clue as to where her sons’ (or her own) greatness lies. Jesus puts her and her sons straight: “Among you, whoever aspires to greatness must be the servant of the rest. And whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all.” (Mk 10:43-44)
We recall the insane message about greatness which Wanda Holloway, a Texas mother, gave her daughter. Sorely wanting the girl to get on the cheerleaders’ team, she tried to hire a hit-man to kill the mother of her daughter's cheerleading rival! She hoped that would upset the girl so much she wouldn’t be able to compete successfully. Her insane plot was discovered, she was taken to court, tried and given probation. Her story was made into a 1992 television film entitled "Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story."
The cultural message about greatness exhausts and depresses our kids, drives them to drink and drugs, and even at times to suicide which puts an end to the race for a greatness which they didn’t want to run in the first place. Many sons and daughters, however, just simply grit their teeth, fall in line and join the race to cultural greatness with all the exhaustion, aberration and emptiness it entails. Some wise sons and daughters, however, are impatient with the culture which sends so much message about being a great doctor, lawyer, merchant, chief and cheerleader but so little message about being a great human being by being the servant of others. How utterly counter-cultural that is!
A Samaritan who aspired to greatness
“Whoever aspires to greatness must be the servant of the rest.” That makes no good sense to our me-me-me and man-eat-man culture. That did, however, make sense to a Samaritan. One day a man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho and was waylaid by robbers who left him half-dead. Along came a Jewish priest and Levite who were too busy to stop and serve the poor man. They crossed the street and passed him by. Along came a Samaritan who, though busy, stopped to serve him. He poured the oil of compassion into his wounds, hoisted him on his beast of burden and then hurried him off to the nearest inn where he paid for his care and cure. (Lk 10:25-37)
The sun finally set on that very busy day. The Jewish priest and Levite finally reached home that evening with their important tasks in Jericho successfully accomplished. But the image of the poor man lying by the wayside (whom they did not stop to serve) suddenly flashed across their minds, and an empty feeling came upon them. It was the feeling of one who serves no one but himself. When the Samaritan, however, finally arrived home, though his business in Jericho that day hadn’t gone well at all, a full joyous feeling welled up in him. It was the feeling of one who serves not himself but another.
A Franciscan friar who aspired to greatness
Franciscan friar Fr. Mychal Judge was one of the four chaplains for the New York Fire Department, and the story of his death serving others was one of the first to come out of the tragedy of 9/11. He had taken his helmet off to give the last rites to a dying fireman when suddenly debris came crashing down upon him. He died there on the spot. His body was carried off to a nearby church and was laid upon the altar.
Fr. Judge had an absolutely encyclopedic memory for people’s names, birthdays and passions. He knew everyone from the homeless to Mayor Giuliani himself. A recovering alcoholic, he comforted the city’s alcoholics, assuring them they weren’t evil people, but that they had an illness which needed to be cured. Though he was a true New Yorker, born and raised in the City, he lived on an entirely different plain of priorities than most New Yorkers. He wasn’t acquisitive or grabby. He was utterly unselfish and totally uncomplaining. So when shortly after 9/11 a memorial was held for him in Good Shepherd Chapel on Ninth Ave. (an Anglican church) an endless flow of priests, nuns, lawyers, cops, firefighters, homeless people, rock-and-rollers, recovering alcoholics, local politicians and middle-aged couples from the suburbs converged to pay homage to this man who made himself the “Servant of New York City.”
Conclusion
Servant of the rest
A church aspires to greatness when it serves not its institution (which forbids the ordination of women), but when it serves its people who are in dire need of priests. A nation aspires to greatness when it serves not its politics, but when it serves its 45 million people who are in dire need of healthcare. But we are the church and we are the nation, and if those two aspire to greatness by serving, it is because we first have made ourselves “the servant of the rest.” (Mk 10:43)
[1] By the “the unchurched” is especially meant not those who have left the church but those whom the church institution has left!
