[1]Crying
serves several useful purposes for a baby. It allows them to communicate their
needs when they’re hungry, uncomfortable, or in trouble. Crying shuts out
sights, sounds, and other sensations too intense for them. Crying helps them
release tension.
As parents, we become in tuned to
our baby’s cry. I have to admit, I’m not very good at this. I spent too much
time away on deployments, but watching my wife and even my daughter, as she raises
our grandchildren, it’s amazing how they get to know their child’s crying
patterns. There ability to identify their specific needs by the cry. They know when
they’re hungry or uncomfortable; tired or just plain fussy. There are times when
nothing seems to console them.[2]
My father had the amazing ability to calm a crying grandchild. He was a big man
that easily intimidates adults, but with children, he was often a gentle giant
in his response to a child’s cry; receptive and engaging, with a compassionate
heart. It’s as if he was an inviting father who became a place of rest, a place
of peace for the children.
Now when adults cry, it’s similar
but different. When adults cry, and I’m talking more than the traditional
tears, the cry often has its roots in an unmet need or desire; some form of
confusion or division; maybe a wound or hurt we’ve suffered. An adult’s cry can
manifest itself in more than tears of sorrow.
James is very forthright in his
letter to the early Christians, writing, “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder.” (Jas
3:16) Disordered attractions to things, position, status. This is a place
where we can become so self-absorbed, so locked into one way of seeing and
being, that we often lose the ability to listen, to the point we can become detached
and almost unwilling to hear the cry of those who may have a valid point or are
in need around us.
The book of Wisdom warns us that
the wicked simply cannot leave the just alone, they must test them. This
testing will manifest in engagements between people and groups, but it will
also come in the form of internal passions, envy, and conflict. The evil one
wants to draw us into a narrow focus, to be divided, whether on something I
want, a prominent position, or just to be always right on the currently debated
topic/situation. He will use what is a good cause and twist it to the point we
will not listen, we don’t want to hear other perspective, nor support another’s
good cause.
We hear this played out in today’s
gospel. Jesus is sharing, for the second time, what he must endure at the hands
of man. He’s taken the Twelve away from the crowds, where there will be no distractions,
to speak plainly to them. “The
Son of Man will be handed over to men, be killed, and in three days will rise
from the dead.” (Mk 9:31) Mark
tells us the twelve did not understand what Jesus was saying, and they were
afraid to ask him. Why? Why couldn’t they, wouldn’t they listen to or hear Jesus’
message? Have you ever been in a grocery store having a conversation with your
spouse, only to turn around and found out they weren’t there anymore? Jesus
must have felt like this. The twelve were there physically but they were lost
in their own dreams, their own desires and visions, their own envy as they argued
who was the greatest among themselves.
Now we can take this engagement in
two ways. In our own passion and compassion for Jesus, because we know the end
of the story, we might think something like this: “I can’t believe it! Jesus is telling
them he is going to die and they’re arguing about who’s the greatest.”
Or we could recognize it is only natural and human to desire to be the
greatest, to get lost in the fantasy. We could approach it like Jesus did by asking
the question, “What were
you arguing about on the way, [guys]?” (Mk 9:33) This type
of question can leave the funny pit in the stomach feeling that causes us to reevaluate
what is going on around us.
In bringing the child into their
midst, Jesus is helping to refocus the apostles on the bigger picture. It’s not
about them, their position, their desires, their goals of what the Kingdom will
be like when Jesus mounts his throne. It’s about seeing the invisible people in
their midst; it’s about hearing the cry of the poor among them; it’s about being
in service to others and invite everyone to come to the Father.
James wanted the baptized of his
early Christian community to battle their inner cravings and passions, which were
tearing apart his community, and just come to the Father.
We need to come to the Father.
Bring all our passions, desires, dreams, and wounds. All the things that may be
dividing us, the things that frustrate us about the other and leave them with
the Father. Leave the hurts and wounds,
give your passions and dreams to Him, Mother Mary and the humble St. Joseph.
Let them refashion your passions for the greater good of God’s Kingdom.
Similar to my father’s ability to calm and bring peace to a crying grandchild, our Heavenly Father has a way with us. He understands our different cries, our different needs. He has a preferential ear toward the cry of the poor, the poor in resources and the poor in spirit. Once we can rest in our Father’s presence, once we can abandon our will to His will, we are able to rest in a peace and presence that allows us to hear the cry of the poor all around us. And like a parent, we will be able to discern the needs of other and respond with the same compassion, mercy, and love that invites all to come to the Father.
[1] New American Bible, Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; James 3:16-4:3;
Mark 9:30-37
[2] Healthychildren.org “Responding to Your
Baby’s Cries” posted 4/21/2021.
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