25TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME HOMILY – YEAR B 2024
SIMPLICITY, INCLUSION, SERVICE
Mk 9.30-37 Wis 2.12,17-20 James 3.16-4.3
Another week goes by, and we pass the point of light now exceeding darkness as we approach summer from a wet and cold spring, with the flowers blooming, despite the rain, hail and shine of the season. And school ends for term 3 holidays.
We progress further along the path of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem to meet his inevitable fate, as he has just warned the disciples that his passion and cross were coming, despite the truth and goodness of his words and actions along the way. We can well identify with their fear and lack of understanding, but also the way in which they really didn’t want to know the bad news, but preferred to see the bright side of Jesus’ positive words and good works, and proclamation of God’s Kingdom as one of inclusion, love, hope and peace, which, of course it was to be, when and where his words were taken to heart and lived out by his followers.
During the week, I came across a YouTube historical documentary of the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, where religion, power, wealth and politics were all intertwined, to the extent that there was much conflict and misunderstanding, with prolonged wars fought over theological differences of opinion, with much suffering and death inflicted as a result. And this was after the 11th century East West split, not to forget the Crusades which followed!
It’s difficult to understand, particularly where the disputes concerned the teaching of Jesus and its development in terms of ritual and tradition over the preceding centuries. What seems to have occurred primarily is that the fundamental message was lost or obscured, by increasing emphasis on the way things should be done, with human factors determining what was the right way of doing things.
The end result was what we see in Europe today, with a majority of the people going with the faith tradition of their secular leaders, so that in general terms, northern Europe went with the Reformation, and is Protestant, while the south is largely Catholic. It has been said Luther, who was an Augustinian monk, trying to challenge corruption in the Catholic Church, didn’t wish for a massive schism, initially seeking reform from within, but the split became the end result, the common ground remaining the Gospels, with New and Old Testament in the background too, with varying emphases.
I often say Jesus’ message is a simple one, but so often clouded by too much concern with how things should be done, be it in ritual or observance of rules and regulations, and resistance to change, rather than sticking with the spirit of his teaching as a priority. So often, this seems to be missed.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus today follows his second prediction of the Passion, but with disciples more concerned about who among them was or would be the greatest, having totally missed the point that it was a hard road ahead, and no easy freeway to power and glory. So Mark then has Jesus take the simple example of an innocent child as a means to emphasize the need and responsibility to welcome and care for the helpless. A child, like a widow, had no rights in Jewish society of the day, and was totally dependent on the good will and concern of others, presumably starting with family.
It’s not as if Jesus is encouraging a simplistic approach to knowledge. He certainly doesn’t encourage ignorance or naivety, but takes the child as an image of one without prejudices or confused priorities in life, rather taking things in and open to new experiences and appreciating the simple things of life, such as love in family and friendship, nature and the wonder of God’s world around us, and to see God in it all.
Brendan Byrne SJ suggests that: “To appreciate the full force of Jesus’ action, we have to put aside the idealisation of childhood that arose in the 19th Century. In the ancient world, children were no doubt precious to their parents, but had no social status or value whatsoever; until adulthood they were nobodies. For someone outside the family to ‘welcome’ a child would be to turn prevailing values and social mores upside down; it would require putting aside all one’s ideas of self-importance and adult status and simply meeting the child as an equal… (His) mission is not one of dominance and being served, but one of service, destined to culminate in the supreme ‘service’ of the cross… The challenge to worldly values… that the disciples found so difficult confronts the Church in every age.”
Then we’ve got James, in his down to earth language, reminding his hearers, and so you and me, that, once again, the darker side of human nature, enduring ‘original sin’, if you like, still can weigh us down with self-indulgence, jealousy, ambition and disharmony to be countered by the positive values of peace, consideration, compassion and good deeds in general. For all of us, life is a challenge where we have to constantly face up to that side of our nature that can drag us down. James is quite realistic about this, with his words of hope and encouragement.
As Claude Mostowik MSC says: “Pope Francis calls for a church based on a culture of encounter which is not possible where we seek power, esteem, control and wealth. It involves commitment to the least of these. The greatest people love well, seek beauty (not superficial either), and bring forth wholeness in their relationships. The love here… seeks healing and wholeness, freedom and creativity, beauty and growth… ”, for all, including the world around us.
And so we are not on about ourselves in a selfish way, but rather in a way where we can contribute by applying the principles and priorities of Jesus to living his Gospel here and now.
john hannon EQUINOX 22nd September 2024