Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time_B - Who's Numero Uno_091921

 

Deacon Tom Writes

“Who’s Numero Uno”

Twenty-fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B

One of telltale signs that we struggle to embrace Jesus’ message “to become the least” is the fact that we do all that we can to be the first… to be the best… the greatest, the center of attention. We want to be in the limelight; we want the bigger piece of the pie. Yet, today, Jesus’ instructions are clear: the only way we get to the head of the line is by seeking to be the last one in it! “If anyone wishes to be first”, he says, “he shall be the last of all and the servant of all”. That’s how things operate in the Kingdom of God. It was the behavior of his closest disciples that prompted Jesus to pass this teaching on to us. In today’s gospel we hear that an argument broke out among his disciples as to who was “Numero Uno”. This happened right after Jesus revealed what’s going to happen to him when they get to Jerusalem. “He will be handed over to men and they will kill him…but in three days he will rise”. How callous of his followers to be so dismissive of Jesus’ horrific prophesy! Imagine how anguished we would be if, while we were bearing our souls to a close friend, they were disengaged and self-absorbed. There is just no imaginable way to describe how hurt and distraught we would feel‼!

Jesus made many references to the fact that the Kingdom he was announcing was ordered a bit differently than our experience here in this temporal realm. In God’s kingdom ….the first shall be last, the hungry will be satisfied, the broken, crushed, dispossessed and sorrowing will be comforted. And forever, the peacemakers will be held in high esteem….!

Those are some powerful promises, and yet, given the state of the world, some of our inner city neighborhoods, and even our family, one can’t help wonder if we are doing all that we can to ease the plight of the poor, the neglected, those who are suffering through this life? Why aren’t we looking to “store up treasures in heaven” (Mt 6:20) by helping the worst of the worst? Are we confused about the significance of Jesus’ teachings? Matthew, Chapter 25 makes it pretty clear… “Whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you do to me?”…Or, are we, like the disciples in today’s gospel more distracted with our own concerns and interests than the suffering and hopelessness of many of those around us?

It is very difficult to die to self, to take up the crosses of our lives and unite them with that of Christ. That is why we need to learn from the Master, to follow in his footsteps, and practice every day to love and serve each other, as Christ has loved us, even unto death. That is one way to show others is really “Numero Uno” in our lives.

Enjoy the day!
Deacon Tom

Image from – lailas blog.com

The Obnoxious One

Deacon Tom Writes

“The Obnoxious One”

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

The world we live in today is not very much different than the world that Jesus lived in when it comes to our human nature. Scripture documents one particularly dark aspect of our human nature: we victimize the innocent; we persecute the just. The Book of Wisdom fashions an image for us that reveals the epic struggle that has persisted for all time, that of good versus evil. When good is manifested in human form, it is deemed to be obnoxious to the wicked because it stands in its way, exposes it for what it is, and reveals its vile nature and, therefore, it must be destroyed. So it has been throughout time and its saga has filled the journals of history. And, least we forget, Jesus is at the center of this classic struggle, the obnoxious one who sides with the victim, the vanquished.

This is the struggle we face throughout our lifetime expressed by St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians. It is a constant battle between good and evil, between those who seek the transcendent values of truth, goodness, and beauty and those who are unrestrained in their pursuit of temporal power, privilege, and control. “For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens”. Eph 6:12 St. Paul makes it perfectly clear the “powers” we are up against.

Fascinating, then, is the question that St. James asks, “Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from?” The answer to this question lies within us. It is our insatiable passions; our self-absorbed desires, our need to be first, our attitudes that we are better than others, our belief that I deserve more or they deserve less, that stir within us so that we “war” within ourselves. We witness a daily display of greed, egomania, and envy in our twenty-minute nightly newscast (ten minutes of commercials telling us to buy more stuff). You get the point.

Where does this end? If the parables of Jesus hold true, we are headed toward a bad ending. There are too many victims and too few “obnoxious ones” taking their blows while standing boldly for truth, justice, goodness, and mercy; who work to end the victim making; who sacrifice so others can enjoy the dignity that God has bestowed on all His children; who speak out against the evils of our time.

Jesus often uses the caveat , “For those who have eyes...” Are we able to open our eyes and see how the desires of the human heart are out of control? Isn’t it time to begin asking how are we going to solve these problems? Instead of pointing the finger and blaming others, isn’t it time to stop and reflect how we have ALL had some role to play in the problems our world is facing today? If so, recall Einstein’s famous words to the effect that no problem can be solved those who created it. We are not able to solve the problems we face because we are the ones who created them in the first place.

We are in desperate need for solutions to the difficult problems we face today, but they won’t come from government or business leaders. The solutions to the problems we face individually and as a society can only be found in the search for a wisdom that comes from a much higher source, the wisdom from above, the wisdom St. James says is, “pure, peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconsistency or insincerity”. A wisdom that the world does not know, a wisdom that empowers us to become “obnoxious” and enables us to, deny our self, pick up our cross and follow Jesus.

If it is the world that shapes our desires, than naturally we will want more of what the world has to offer. If, on the other hand, our desires are for the things of God, He will be our help. He will provide all that we need to make things right in our lives, for He alone can give us wisdom from above.

Enjoy the day!

Deacon Tom

Artwork: Christ Of Maryknoll_Lentz.jpg