(Homily 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time-Yr. B)
A dive into history will reveal that long
since the existence of man, there has been a constant tension between good
(God) and evil (Devil), between the righteous and the unrighteous, between the
just and the unjust, the list can continue, on and on. However, the scenario
presented in the readings today is an existential manifestation of this age
long tension. Of course, till today we
still experience the presages of that tension, many a times fueled by the
quest for greatness, the envy and ambition. As a matter of fact, the
ungodly men will continue to strive to lord it over the just and the righteous,
as it is narrated in the first reading, and as we often experience. Many a
times is as if the ungodly men do everything to be in power, in order to
continue to perpetrate their evil agenda. They
strive for the seat of position not for the sake of service but for power,
self-exaltation and for the continuation of the so-called spiral of evil.
The three readings seem to converge on the themes of the just, the unjust, wisdom
and greatness. In the book of Wisdom, the just is a believer in God, who seeks
to do his will, what is right and acceptable in His sight. In the New
Testament, particularly from the second reading and the Gospel passage, the
just is one who is guided by the “wisdom from above”, while the impious, the
unjust, according to the book of Wisdom is one who doesn’t recognize the
supremacy of God, and retains that he came to the world by chance, he is after
pleasure and personal gains. As emanating from the second reading and the
Gospel, the impious is one who is guided by the earthly wisdom, and as such, in
search of worldly greatness. Above all else, however, it behooves us to affirm
that Christian greatness is measured not
by the amount of wealth, nor by the numerous titles acquired outside and inside
the Church, is rather measured by the capacity and readiness to serve others,
particularly the poor, the least and the lost. In today’s message, therefore, the idea of the triumphant ministry is
replaced by that of servant hood.
The first reading (Wis. 2:12.17-20)
from the book of Wisdom presents to us the situation of the Jewish community
that remained faithful to God and to their religious tradition, in the midst of
a pagan world. The sacred author talks about two sets or categories of people:
the Just and the godless people. The godless in our text here represents the
pagan world, or those Jews that have abandoned their faith in God to conform
themselves to the style of life of pagans. The just instead, represents the
community of the faithful or individually, one who lives in conformity with the
commandments of God. The godless sees the just as a threat, “he is inconvenient
to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and
accuses us of sins against our training”. Here, is their reason for hating the
righteous. Instead of changing their
lives, they look for a way of dealing with the just, even questioning what will
be the outcome of their faith in God at the end. Their honesty and
truthfulness provoke the godless. Righteousness
and justice in the sight of the godless is inflammatory, little wonder they are
combative of the just. A closer look to what is happening in our society
today goes a long way in revealing that holiness and righteousness are for
those that are courageous and ready to swim against the current. For the good actions of the righteous is a
threat to the evil deeds of the ungodly. As such, many a times those who
are righteous and lack courage are subjected to silence. On the other times they are forced to the trend of conspiracy of
silence. Conscious of this, we re-echo our prayer, joining our voices to
that of the Psalmist saying: “The scepter of the wicked will not come to rest
over the heritage of the upright; or the upright might set their own hands to
evil” (Ps. 125:3).
Drawing the issue further, from the Christological perspective,
the ordeal of the just seem to anticipate the Passion of Christ (the Just par
excellence). Secondly, the figure of the just presented in the book of Wisdom
shows close affinity with the righteous man described by the Psalmist, who is vindicated
by God and also with the suffering servant of Deutero-Isaiah. A sort of
parallel exists between the ordeal of the just and the prediction of the
Passion. This passage from all indications might have been chosen in
consideration of the second prediction of the Passion, in today’s Gospel. And from the existential standpoint, it
presents an actual situation that is even present in our own time too. For many
a time, honesty and rectitude can attract envy, hostility and hatred. Truly, a Christian who lives in accordance with
the spirit of Christ and his Gospel is called to be a reproach to the spirit of
the world. Thus, a Christian is equally called to suffer the persecution of
the “just”, “anyone who tries to live in devotion to Christ is certain to be
persecuted” (2Tm. 3:12).
The persecution of the just by the impious, though doesn’t have any
justification, but it has a
psychological explanation, that we can find in the passage. The life of the
just is a constant reproach to the impious, it is a constant obstacle to their
evil plans and projects. From the
psychological standpoint, the impious persecute the just because the ways
of the just is a reproach to their conduct and lays bare their hypocrisy. The ways of the just destabilizes their
apparently built homeostasis, it destroys their primitive defense mechanism.
In the second reading (James 3:16-4.3) St. James tells us that there is a wisdom that
comes from on high, a gift of God. “The wisdom from above is first pure, then
peaceful, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without
uncertainty or insincerity”. But there is wisdom opposed to this wisdom
from above, and that is the wisdom of the world, is a diabolic wisdom. It
causes wars, fights, inordinate desires that push you to kill. It gives rise to
envy and ambitiousness. A brother kills his brother because of this type of
wisdom. But a Christian is one who has
made a precise choice: to allow himself to be led by the Wisdom from above.
He advanced his exultation saying “you do not have, because you do not ask. You
ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (Jm. 4:2-3). For this incapacity to decipher what matters in life, the second
reading warned us about the danger of confused priorities.
In today’s Gospel (Mk 9:30-37) Jesus teaches his apostles privately, with the
exclusion of the crowd. This could be
seen as a moment of formation for the apostles before they could continue the
ministry of Jesus. Therein, we see the episode of the discussion of the
apostles on their way to Capernaum. The
content of their discussion revolved around who is the greatest.
Irrespective of the fact that Jesus has predicted for the second time, the
betrayal and death that await him in Jerusalem, yet they were not able to
understand the demands and the nature of His Mission. Little wonder, they
already started to dream of sharing his glory, probably bent on whom to succeed
Him, when he will be no more.
Jesus continued with the teaching on his
passion and death to his disciples, but they did not understand profoundly what
He was talking about. He was talking about a matter of life and death. But they
were not listening to him; they were busy competing on power. Their minds were
stalked at the thought of the things of the world like power and authority. As
Jesus and his apostles arrived Capernaum, as soon as they entered the house,
Jesus asked them what they were discussing along the road? But they were
silent, ashamed of themselves, because on their way they were discussing among
themselves who is the greatest or the most important person. Here, the
evangelist helps us to picture an interesting scenario. Providentially, this moved Jesus to give them a wonderful teaching on
authority-service, or a servant leader. A leader should lead serving. He
sat down and called the twelve together, “if anyone wants to be first, he must
be the last and the servant of all” (v.35).
Jesus teaches by example, he said “I did not come to be served, but to serve
and to give my life” (Mk.10:45). As
such, a Christian should not be eying first positions or desire to dominate others;
rather he is called to practice humility. He has to be at the service of
others, especially the least and the lost.
Jesus further illustrated his teaching
with a fascinating gesture, he took a child, put him in the midst of the twelve,
he hugged him tenderly and said, “Who welcomes one of these little ones in my name
welcomes me, who welcomes me welcomes He who sent me” (v.37). Jesus puts a child
at the center and not himself. In the words of St. Luke “those who exalts
themselves will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk. 14:11). A child especially in the
Jewish society of that time, is an eloquent symbol of a weak, needy and
dependent person. As such, welcoming people like this in the name of Christ, in
one’s heart and sharing in their sufferings, entails welcoming Christ himself
and through Him, the Father. In order to do this, it is necessary to humble
oneself. This is the paradox of the
wisdom that comes from above. The most important in the eyes of God is the
one who humbles himself. Indeed, Jesus shows them who is truly great, because
from the passage, the disciples and Jesus had different ideas of service and
how to achieve greatness. Later on, the
apostles will understand what true greatness is and they followed the example
of Jesus even in their deaths, as martyrs. Today, the world presents power,
sex and money as greatness, but Jesus presents humility and service. We have to
be ready to show the world what comes first. On the road to Christian greatness, humility ought to be our sure
foundation. In fact, when St. Bernard was asked what the four cardinal
virtues were, he replied: “Humility, humility, humility and humility”. This
even though looks repetitive, reveals the place of importance that humility
occupies in the Christian life.
The
message of this Sunday therefore, calls our attention to the imitation of the
ways of the just. For the just, as in the first reading is one who is led by
the wisdom from above, as it is suggestive of the second reading; and as such
he understands life as a gift, and is ready to render service to others (as
revealed in Jesus’ teaching to his apostles). For a disciple of Christ
therefore, authority is no longer to be understood in terms of power,
domination and self-exaltation, but as a humble service. Brethren, we therefore
pray in this Holy Eucharist, that we may be enabled to enter into full and profound
communion with Christ, the Wisdom of God incarnated and crucified for love.
Amen!!!
(Fr. Vitus
M.C. Unegbu, SC)
Very nice 👍
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