Holy Innocents Church Chicago IL

This was supposed to appear in the bulletin at St. Francis Xavier (LaGrange) this Sunday, but I sent it in too late for them to use it.

Jesus says today, “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” How much different would the church look if we had taken what Jesus said seriously? I know that we have honored and recognized such people as saints in the course of our history. In the not too distant future, Mother Teresa of Calcutta will move into our pantheon of the canonized, and rightly so, as she chose to spend her life serving the poorest of the poor. The trouble is that we have developed the church as a society in which conventional accoutrements of power are more regular and usual. We rely on our own sense of dignity instead of the dignity Jesus calls us to.

James and John are not being evil or selfish when they ask for the special places at the right and left of Jesus. They just want what they perceive as their proper dignity. The answer Jesus gives them is precious and wonderful. He tells them that they will share his sufferings as they have shared his life, but that the special places are not his to give. I love that the other ten become indignant with James and John despite the answer of Jesus. Could it be because they didn’t seize the moment and ask him first? It’s the reason that Jesus speaks of service to all of them together, reminding them that they are not at all like the usual run of lords and power-brokers. “It shall not be so among you,” he says.

I remember hearing a lot of protests one time when I told my parish that I don’t cut in line at wakes. People argued that I should, that somehow or another I ought to be able to go right to the front. My response was that my time isn’t more important than anyone else’s and that everyone needs to express their sympathy and offer their prayers. Just because I’m a priest doesn’t mean I’m able to jump ahead of everyone. I know it’s a rather simple example, but it’s part of what Jesus tells his disciples today. The leader must be the servant. The power and authority of the church comes not from our wealth or social standing, but from our willingness to care for everyone. (That’s not to say I’d ever turn someone down if they maybe send part of the fresh batch of cookies over to the rectory just to be nice to the folks there or whatever. Yes, I really believe in the dignity of being the servant of all, but we’re talking about cookies here. If you really read the Gospels, you know that Jesus wants us to keep our sense of humor about these things.)

Among the many ways Catholics differ from the other branches of Christianity is that we seldom speak of how “I am saved,” preferring to say “We are saved by the love of Jesus.” That’s our reminder that we are bound together, that we find salvation through our service of others, especially those who are the poorest and most in need. It gives the responsibility for that care to those who have the resources to do it, and it reminds us that everyone has some resources. If you want to know how this works both symbolically and in real life, just remember that the poorest parish in the Archdiocese has a sharing parish.

How much different would the church be if we had taken what Jesus said seriously? I can’t even imagine the historical changes if we could go back in time and really press being servants instead of ecclesial powers. I can only say what would happen today. We would fall all over each other to care for the poorest, the most marginalized, the most in need. We would worry less about who is here illegally and more about how to care for their children. We wouldn’t get bogged down in politics when people go to bed hungry or wake up sick and unable to pay for their care.

“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.” If the church had taken Jesus seriously when he said this, we would want nothing more than that for ourselves.