September 20, 2009 25th Ordinary Sunday of the Year Wis. 2:12, 17-20; James 3:14:3; Mk. 9:30-37 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Readings:http://www.usccb.org/nab/092009.shtml   ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   The Gospel contains Jesus’ teaching on the “way” of discipleship as he makes his “way” toward his death. A dramatic characteristic of this section is that the chosen disciples consistently misunderstand his teaching, preferring to talk rather about questions of prestige and rank in the community.   After witnessing the dramatic miracle of the healing of the epileptic boy, where they were unable to cast out the spirit causing the illness, and after hearing Jesus teaching on faith and prayer, the disciples hear again Jesus’ prediction of suffering and death. The disciples again are not sure what Jesus means, and when he asks them what they were discussing, they cannot answer. But they “had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.”   After Jesus reveals the tragic end that he faces, the disciples argue about status within the community. Hadn’t they been listening to him? In response to their quarrelling, Jesus turns their expectations, and ours, upside down: the greatest becomes the least; the first becomes the last. He insists that it is in receiving society’s most vulnerable that we receive Jesus himself; and in receiving him, we receive God. This is the epitome of true wisdom.   Perhaps the messages found within these readings are not contradictory after all. Wisdom urges us to choose the right path. Jesus gives us a glimpse of the character of that path—namely, embracing the vulnerable in our midst: the defenseless children, the despairing poor, the terrified mentally ill, the marginalized disabled, the refugees of war. The vulnerable are all around us. The world seems to say, “Get out of life what you can. Let others take care of themselves.” The disciple of Jesus asks, “How can I help?” This is foolish in the eyes of some, and they may ridicule and even persecute those who follow this way. But it is the way of the wise, and the fruit of such righteousness is true peace.   To understand the power of Jesus’ prophetic and symbolic action, we should not think of children simply as loving and innocent. At the time of Jesus children were “non-persons,” without any power and often unprotected, and they function here as a symbol of powerlessness and vulnerability. Contrary to the disciples’ desire for positions of power in God’s kingdom, Jesus says they should be more concerned with welcoming into their midst the poor and vulnerable and by so doing receive both Jesus and the One who sent him.     <<   Previous: 24th Sunday of the Year  |   Next: 26th Sunday of the Year >>     Go Back to SERMONS (Year B)