Gospel & Reflection for 25th Sunday.
Mark 9:30-37
Jesus and his disciples made their way through Galilee; and he did not want anyone to know, because he was instructing his disciples; he was telling them, ‘The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men; they will put him to death; and three days after he has been put to death he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he said and were afraid to ask him.
They came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the road?’ They said nothing because they had been arguing which of them was the greatest. So he sat down, called the Twelve to him and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant of all.’ He then took a little child, set him in front of them, put his arms round him, and said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’
Reflection
Friends, the Greek slave and story teller – Aesop – supposedly lived about six hundred years before the time of Christ. Not much is known about his existence and none of his alleged writings have survived. But numerous folktales are credited to him and these tales known as ‘Aesop’s fables’ have crossed the world and are part of every countries story telling traditions in some way. ‘Aesop’s Fables’ are small tales with big lessons.
One such fable tells of two neighbours who came before the god Jupiter asking him to grant their hearts’ desire. Now one neighbor was full of greed, while the other was eaten up with envy. Jupiter knew this and so to punish them both, Jupiter granted that each would have whatever it was they wished for but that their neighbor would be given twice as much. The greedy man prayed to have a room full of gold. No sooner said than done. But his joy turned to sorrow when he realised that his neighbor had now received two rooms full of gold. But that envious man, though finding two of his rooms filled with gold still could not bear the thought of his neighbor having any joy in his one room full of gold, and so his wish was to go blind in one eye. He was willing to endure blindness in one eye just so his neighbour would be blind in both.
The moral of the fable: Vices are their own punishment.
That tale is a doorway into the scriptures today. In our first reading from the book of Wisdom, we eavesdrop on the conversation of envious people, conspiring against a good person. In their jealousy, they gather together, gossip and threaten, weaving a plan to test his goodness. In our second, St. James speaks about the results of such envy and jealousy and how it can effect a community trying to live as God calls them too. “Wherever you find jealousy and ambition, you find disharmony and wicked things of every kind…” Finally, in our Gospel, we see how even Jesus’ own little community of Apostles were not immune to the affects of jealousy and envy either.
The Lord confronts the disciples about their bickering over which of them was the best, the greatest, the favorite maybe! It’s a pathetic scene. As Jesus walks along, He is speaking of the consequences of His life of service, love and sacrifice; a life void of envy and jealousy of any kind. Yet, His words, are carried off in the day’s wind, right over the heads of the disciples because they are too busy seeking and dreaming of advantage and position. But in an instant, Jesus puts them back firmly in their place, telling them that duty comes before position, and their duty was to be in the service and love of others, especially those considered insignificant in the eyes of the world. Such service and love scatters envy and jealousy because true love and service rejoices in others and their blessings, it never laments them.
There is no doubt at all but envy and jealousy are the bookends of a miserable life. They have a way of silently separating people; moving us away from each other. But they also disturb personal contentment; making us feel that we are less and have less, just because others might be something or have something, that we wish to be or want. Envy and jealousy so easily make us blind to the people we are, and the things we have, blessings that somebody somewhere are probably praying to have.
Friends, envy and jealousy are like boomerangs, they keep coming back until we stop throwing them. We are encouraged this weekend to be grateful for the people we are, the things we have, the blessings we experience and to be equally glad for others in their good fortune, no matter how they experience it.
May our hearts never be tormented by what we think we lack, but be comforted in what we know we have through God’s goodness.
Fr. Richard