25th Sunday OT
Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP
Our Lady of the Rosary, NOLA
I
lost a few dozen friends yesterday. Mostly people I've never met.
Facebook friends. One of these “friends” attacked someone I do
know in person, calling her a “sheep in the flock of Satan” b/c
she suggested that he lacked a sense of humor. Another facebook
friend insisted that Pope Francis is a communist infiltrator bent on
destroying the Church. Still another one kept harassing me as a
“Republican stooge” b/c I think Planned Parenthood should be
defunded for trafficking in harvested human organs. It was an
exciting morning. The saddest part for me – as a priest – is that
most of those causing me so much anguish on facebook are Catholic.
Anti-Pope Francis Catholics. Pro-abortion Catholics.
Holy-than-the-Blessed-Virgin-Mary Catholics.
Anti-everyone-who-doesn't-agree-with-me-100%-on-every-issue
Catholics. I kept thinking: the Devil must be laughing himself
silly watching us bickering over who's the Real Catholic! Jesus
tells his disciples what's waiting for him in Jerusalem: betrayal,
death, and his eventual resurrection. They didn't understand any of
this. When they arrive in Capernaum, Jesus asks them, “What were
you arguing about on the way?” They were arguing about which of
them would be the greatest in his kingdom.
Things
haven't changed much in 2,000 years. Jesus reveals to his friends
what will happen to him at the end of this trip. He will be handed
over to the authorities, beaten, killed, and three days after, he
will rise from the tomb. This is astonishing news. But rather than
spend their time asking Jesus questions about the Good News, or
planning out how they would survive w/o him, the disciples bicker
over who's going to be the greatest among those Jesus leaves behind!
Seriously. You have right there with you the long-promised Messiah,
the Savior of Mankind, your teacher and friend, and he tells you that
he's going to be murdered and then resurrected, and all you can think
about is who's the Best Disciple Ever!? Who's the Boss? And here we
are 2,000 years later bickering over who's the Real Catholic; who's
inside the Church, who's outside; whether or not the Pope is really
the pope; which cardinal or bishop is trying to influence the
upcoming Synod. Jesus doesn't rebuke his disciples for being so
astonishingly petty. He doesn't rebuke us either. He says to them and
to us, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all
and the servant of all.”
When
Jesus asks the disciples what they were arguing about on the way, the
gospel tells us that “they remained silent.” First smart thing
they've done on this trip. Why are they silent? B/c they are
embarrassed. They don't understand most of Jesus teaches them. They
aren't courageous enough to ask him questions. However, they are
ambitious enough to jockey for power behind Jesus' back. Jesus deals
a lethal blow to their ambition when he reveals to them that the
greatest among them will be the servant of all. To make his point, he
puts a small child in the middle of the group and says, “Whoever
receives one child such as this in my name, receives me. . .”
Whoever takes in the lowest, the least powerful, the weakest, the
most humble, the most vulnerable, the smallest in the world's eyes
receives Christ himself. In the world, to the world there is nothing
more useless than the weak, the powerless, those who simply do not
count as Worthwhile. But to Christ, these are the ones – the little
ones – who will take us to heaven. These are the ones who will open
the gates and let us in. While we bicker with one another about
purity and politics and conspiracies, the little ones all over the
globe are standing ready to welcome us to Christ. Will we receive
them? If not, we should follow the example of the disciples and
remain quiet in an embarrassed silence.
My
facebook drama over the weekend was prompted by discussions of the
Holy Father's visit to D.C. and NYC. He has more traditional
Catholics upset with his talk about climate change and the abuses of
capitalism. He has more progressive Catholics upset with his talk
condemning same-sex “marriage” and abortion. If you follow news
about Pope Francis' sometimes “off the cuff” remarks you know
that our media are delighted to misreport and misinterpret just about
everything he says and doesn't say. I'm betting that this week our
TV's and newspapers will be stuffed with all sorts of fables and
fairy-tales about the Pope saying and doing this and that. The Holy
Father is coming to the U.S. to carry out his ministry as the
successor to St. Peter, his apostolic duty to bear witness to the
Good News of Jesus Christ. He's coming to remind us that if we hope
to receive Christ, we must receive the least of God's children. He's
not coming to endorse politicians or approve of public policies or
condemn impure Catholics. He's coming to do the job the Holy Spirit
gave him to do: to preach and teach as Jesus himself preached and
taught. Nothing more, nothing less.
What will we do during the
Pope's visit? How will we receive his message? James scolds the
Jewish Christians: “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist,
there is disorder and every foul practice. . .Where do the wars and
where do the conflicts among you come from?” Sound familiar? The
Greek James uses in his letter tells us that the conflicts in the
Church then were bloody fights, serious maiming and killing among
various factions. What were they fighting about? We don't know the
specific issues, but James' language tells us that there were those
who wanted to impose their personal preferences on the whole Church;
fights over who would be in charge; and fights started by public
criticism of Church members. IOW, those who wanted their own way
regardless of costs; those who wanted authority and power; and those
who didn't want to live up to the moral law. Maybe James wrote his
letter to the American Church!
Will
the Holy Father's visit be a time of disorder for the Church? Or will
the factions among us manage to set aside jealousy and selfish
ambition to receive him as the Vicar of Christ? That's a question too
big for you or me to answer. Let's ask it this way: how will you, how
will I receive the Holy Father this week? Can I set aside ambition
and ideology and the need to be right and welcome his message. Can
you? Can we receive him like a little child, welcoming him into our
national family as an apostle? Can we listen – truly listen – to
what he has to say and give it the weight his office deserves? If we
will be followers of Christ, children in the kingdom, then we must
set aside the measures of this world and hear with the ears of faith.
The world tells us to see everything in terms of politics – money
and power. The world tells us to hear everything in terms of
prohibition or permission. Christ tells us to receive him in the
least of his. That's the fruit of righteousness and the way to peace.
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