[1]A
baby changes everything — especially for a child who is used to getting mom and
dad’s full attention. Introducing and raising siblings when each child expects
to be center stage is one of the trickiest balancing acts a parent can pull
off.
There
is a story of a family who was bringing home their new born baby, when they got
home they were greeted at the door by the baby’s 4-year-old brother who said,
“I want to talk to my baby brother—alone.”
This somewhat surprised the parents.
But they let the 4-year-old in the nursery with the brother and they
shut the door…but they put their ears to the door as they wondered what he was
going to say. Looking into the crib the
4-year-old said: “Quick! Tell me who made you!
Tell me where you came from! I’m
beginning to forget.”
Do
you remember those magical years where a child has not moved into that linear,
left brain consciousness yet? It is an
age where everything is still an enchanted universe… where it is still possible
to believe in what you do not see. It is
an age where one does not judge…one does not exclude…one does not care about
race, creed, color, sexual orientation nor care about power, prestige or
possessions. It is the age where it
seems everything coheres and yet… we all seem to unlearn it in a way… we simply
forget.
In
today’s gospel we find Jesus taking the Twelve away from the crowd to speak to
them of his pending Passion, Death and Resurrection. Not surprisingly, the Twelve have no idea
what he is talking about and choose not to question him or at the very least do
not want to discuss it.[2] Instead, we find the Twelve arguing about
status, rank, and standing!
The
disciples were arguing who was the greatest.
The tax collectors were reaping their wealth and the Pharisees were
determining who was in and who was out—all themes that are repeated today over
2,000 years later. Like the Twelve, we
usually want to be on top, but Jesus calls us to be happy on the bottom. We want to be the boss, but he wants us to be
the servant. We want to be grown-up and
admired, but he tells us to be like children.
We want to achieve a lot, but he says we need to receive a lot. We often want to determine who is worthy—but
he says that all are called to this table.
Indeed, it does seem that we continue to forget where we came from, who
we were created to be, and what Jesus calls us to do.
In
the book of James, we are introduced to the root of wickedness: “jealousy and
selfish ambition.” (Jam 3:16) James draws upon the Wisdom traditions to
contrast the earthy ways with those of the wise, which are “from above.” (Jam
3:17) Jesus upsets the Twelve’s expectations exhorting that the leader is the one
among them who is “the servant of all.” (Mk 9:35) Saint John Paul II in his
last Consistory issued a strong warning to the newly elected cardinals that
their mission should be not to pursue careerism but to serve society’s most
vulnerable, if need be, to the limit of martyrdom.
Jesus
punctuates his teaching by taking a child (one without legal standing or status
in the both Jewish and Greco-Roman society) and charges the disciples, “Whoever
receives one child such as this in my name receives me; and whoever receives
me, receives not me but the One who sent me” (Mk 9:37) and I believe this is
why Jesus brings forth a child so many times![3]
“Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of
heaven belongs to such as these.” (Mt 19:14; Mk 10:14; Lk 18:16)
The
“child” in today’s reading cannot model the kind of service Jesus is challenging
the Twelve and us to model. To be “last
of all” (Mk 9:35) is to be in the service of the “child.” This “child” represents all those who possess
no social status or legal rights within society. This “child” is the immigrant and refugee
seeking a better life for their family, hope for a better future. This “child” represents the most vulnerable people
in our community and of society.
To
welcome this “child” is indeed to welcome Jesus and the God he professes.[4]
[1] New American Bible, Saint Joseph Edition ©
1986. Scripture: Wis 2:12, 17-20; Jam 3:16--4:3;
Mk 9:30-37.
[2] Sick, And You Cared For
Me, © 2014 by James J. Knipper. “Whoever received on child in my name
receives me.” By Deacon Jim Knipper.
[3] Living the Word ©
2017 by Laurie Brink, O.P. and Paul Colloton, O.S.F.S.
[4] Mark in the Lectionary
© 2008 by Gerald Caron.
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