THE GREATEST AMONG YOU
Fr. Marcel Emeka Okwara CSsR
Homily of the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
Holy Names of Jesus & Mary Catholic Church
Memphis, Tennessee
September 20, 2009
The human society is composed of two groups of people: the society of persons who can do things for themselves and the society of persons who need others to do things for them. We have the society of the influential people and the society of people who are influenced. We have the society of givers and the society of receivers. Children fall under the society of persons who need others to do things for them. They fall under the society of persons who are easily influenced; they are under the society of receivers. A child has no influence at all; a child cannot advance a man’s career nor influence his prestige. A child is not a giver; he is a receiver. A child relies on others to do things for him. A child is the number one dependant. In our calculation, children are primarily receivers and not givers.
In today’s gospel reading taking from the gospel of Mark 9:30-37, Jesus shocked his apostles. The apostles were in a heated disagreement. They were arguing among themselves which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus expressively showed them that what they were after was just a big waste of time. Jesus took a child and set him in the midst. In Palestine at the time of Jesus children were, however, the lowest of the low. And the child that Jesus called up may have been a wondering child. In those days it was common to abandon a child after birth, as a method of birth control, because a family may not be able to feed another mouth. At the time of Jesus, children had no status and were more or less regarded the same way as slaves until they matured. In our time, we place children first, but not in the time of Jesus. So you can imagine what a shock it was for the apostles who were arguing which of them was the greatest when Jesus placed a child before them and said “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all. Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”
As I said before, a child is the number one dependant. A child cannot give us things; a child cannot advance any career or enhance anyone’s prestige. In the time of Jesus, children had no status; they were the lowest of the low. By saying “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me…” Jesus was saying “If you welcome the poor, ordinary people, people with no influence, people with little or no power and wealth, the people who need things done for them, the people who need you more than you need them, you welcome Him.”
Beloved, did you notice the emphasis Jesus made? “Whoever receives one child such as this…” Who was that child? Remember I told you that in those days it is common to abandon a child after birth as a method of birth control. The child in question may be one of those abandoned children who loiter around. The child may have come expecting to be fed. He may have heard that Jesus was feeding people. He may be there to be fed. Jesus took him and set him before us and said “If you accept a child like this, you are great.” Pitching your tent with the society of persons who needs things is what we must seek. Doing that is the path to greatness.
Sisters and brothers, we all want to make friends with persons who can do things for us. We want the friendship of persons of influence who can be useful to us. It is easy to avoid the society of those who inconveniently need our help. Friendship with influential people is materially more rewarding. It is easy to carry on with the wealthy and the powerful while neglecting the simple, humble, ordinary people. It is easy in a public function to seek out the attention of those who are highly placed in the society. But today the Lord urges us to seek out not those who can do things for us, but those for whom we can do things for. The greatest among us are those who seek out the little ones, the little man, the little woman, the neglected child, the not-too dressed guy out there.
Who is the greatest among us? The greatest among us is not the most intelligent among us, although it is good to be intelligent. The greatest among us is not the wealthiest among us. The greatest among us is not the person with the biggest wages. The greatest among us is not the finest and the prettiest. The greatest among us is not the person with the best shape, everything fitting perfectly. The greatest among us is not the person with the most expensive car, living in an exclusive area in a house built with bricks. The greatest among us is the servant of all. The person who looks out for the little guy is the greatest. Mother Teresa said that anybody can be great because anybody can serve. Sometimes the number of the needy people around us can scare us away. Helping every one of them can break us down. Lifting every one of them up might be too heavy for us. But if you look at the mass, you cannot do anything; but if you look at one, you can do something.
If you are not doing anything to serve the Church or the community, would consider doing something to serve the Church, to help the Church? When we serve others, we receive something that money cannot buy. There are treasures that money cannot buy and when we serve others we receive something that money can never buy. Mother Teresa gives an example of this:
One evening we went out and we picked up four people from the street. And one of them was in a most terrible condition. I told the Sisters: “You take care of the other three; I will take care of the one who looks worse.” So I did for her all that my love can do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand, as she said one word only: “Thank you” - and she died. I could not help but examine my conscience before her. And I asked: “What would I say if I were in her place?” And my answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself. I would have said: “I am hungry, I am dying, I am cold, I am in pain,” or something. But she gave me much more, she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face.
When we serve we receive something that money can never buy. With the example of Jesus and Mother Teresa before us we can ask ourselves, “What is our attitude to others?” Do we relate with some people and avoid others? Why do we avoid some people? Is it because they have hurt us and we have not yet forgiven them or is it because we are like Jesus’ disciples on the road thinking we are the greatest? Let’s consider the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:
Lord, make me a channel of your peace,
that where there is hatred, I may bring love,
where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,
where there is discord, I may bring harmony,
where there is error, I may bring truth,
where there is doubt, I may bring faith,
where there is despair, I may bring hope,
where there are shadows, I may bring light
and where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may comfort, rather than to be comforted,
that I may understand, rather than be understood
that I may love, rather than be loved.
For it is by forgetting self, that one finds,
it is by forgiving, that one is forgiven,
it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
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