21st May >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings (Inc. Mark 9:30-37) for Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time: ‘Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me’. (2024)

21st May >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings (Inc. Mark 9:30-37) for Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time: ‘Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me’.

Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Except USA)Mark 9:30-37Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.

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.’

Gospel (USA)Mark 9:30-37The Son of Man is to be handed over. Whoever wishes to be first, shall be last of all.

Reflections (6)

(i) Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

In today’s first reading, James declares that conflict between people first starts with self-serving desires and ambitions in the human heart. ‘You have an ambition that you cannot satisfy, so you fight to get your way’. The truth of what James says is played out in our gospel reading. The disciples of Jesus are at odds with one another, arguing among themselves, because of the self-serving desires and ambitions in their heart. They all want to be considered the greatest. A little later in Mark’s gospel, James and John will ask for the best seats in Jesus’ kingdom, one at his right and the other at his left, which creates more conflict among the twelve. We may have known similar situations in our own experience, where people’s self-serving ambition leads to conflict and rows. The response of James and John to this all too human phenomenon is very similar. James says, ‘Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up’. Rather, than lifting ourselves up at other people’s expense, we give in to God, as James says. We allow God to have first place in our lives, rather than our own self-serving ambitions, allowing God to life us up. Jesus says that those who want to be first must make themselves last of all and servant of all, including being the servant of those considered at the time the least important and influential members of society, such as children. Allowing God to have first place in our lives is, for Jesus, allowing others to have first place in our lives, especially the most vulnerable. Both James and Jesus show us the kind of ambition that our faith encourages us to cultivate.

And/Or

(ii) Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospels Jesus very often identifies with those who had little or no social status at that time. In this morning’s gospel reading he identifies himself with a child. In the culture of that time, children had no social standing, no power or influence. They were valued for who they could become rather than for who they were. They were considered among the least. Yet, Jesus says to his disciples, ‘whoever welcomes one of these children in my name, welcomes me’. He was trying to teach his disciples a lesson. They just had an argument as to which of them was the greatest, who among them was the most important as the world assesses importance. In identifying himself with a child, Jesus was declaring that social standing, importance, status, was not a value for him and was not one of the values of the kingdom of God that Jesus came to proclaim. What is of value in God’s kingdom is becoming servant of all, including servant of those whom the world does not consider of any standing or status, such as children. Like the disciples we can easily buy into a set of values that are not those of the kingdom of God. It is only by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and becoming more attentive to his word that we allow his values to shape how we think and speak and act.

And/Or

(iii) Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

In Mark’s gospel the disciples seem to be often ‘off message’ as we say today. They don’t seem to quite grasp the fundamental message of Jesus; their concerns are often a long way from his concerns; their priorities are often in conflict with his. We would be slow to judge those first disciples of Jesus because we can all go ‘off message’ in the same way from time to time. In this morning’s gospel Jesus announces to his disciples that the day is drawing near when he will be delivered into the hands of men and put to death; he will become one of the least. In response, the disciples immediately begin to argue among themselves as to which of them is the greatest. It is hard to imagine a more incongruous response to what Jesus has just said to them. Their concern about which of them is the greatest, as to who stands where in the pecking order, is a very human preoccupation. However, it is certainly not the preoccupation of Jesus. To convey his preoccupation, Jesus takes a little child, a symbol of the least in that culture, someone without status, position or influence, and he identifies himself fully with the child. Anyone who welcomes one such child welcomes me, he says. Jesus was great in God’s eyes, yet on the cross he was the least of the least. The message of Jesus is that true greatness, greatness in God’s eyes, tends to be at odds with what the world considers greatness.

And/Or

(iv) Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Very often in Mark’s gospel we find Jesus and his disciples at cross purposes. A good example of that is to be found in this morning’s gospel reading. Jesus had been telling his disciples that he would soon end up among the least; he would be delivered into the hands of others and put to death. Immediately afterwards the disciples argue as to which of them was the greatest. While they were looking for status and honour, Jesus looked to do the will of God, even though that would mean a lack of all status and honour, the most dishonourable death the ancient world could devise. We could easily be very critical of the disciples, but we would have to say, ‘there but for the grace of God go all of us’. There will always be some tension between the mindset of Jesus and our mindset. We are all prone to taking on those values in the culture that are not in harmony with the values of the gospel. As Jesus sat down and called the twelve to him to correct their mindset, so we all need to be called by the Lord to have our own mindset, our own values, purified and reformed so that we carry within ourselves what Paul calls the mind of Christ. Lent begins tomorrow. We could see Lent as a time during which we strive to put on the mind of Christ more fully.

And/Or

(v) Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading we find a competitive spirit among the disciples. They argue over which of them is the greatest. They were thinking of greatness as the world at the time considered greatness – prestige, honour, position, power, influence. Jesus, however, gives them a teaching on what is considered ‘greatness’ in the kingdom of God. There, greatness consists in service, even when that means becoming the last of all. It consists of service above all to the weakest and most vulnerable members of society, such as children. That is why Jesus placed a child among the disciples and defined service in terms of welcoming children, those without status or influence, declaring that in welcoming children they were welcoming him. We are all prone to the temptation that afflicted the disciples, the temptation to measure greatness as the world, the culture, measures it. We can judge our own worth in the light of the values the culture promotes. This morning’s gospel reminds us to keep judging our worth against the values of the kingdom as embodied in the teaching and life of the person of Jesus.

And/Or

(vi) Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Parents bring their children to the church for baptism; some years later they bring them to the church for First Communion and a few years later again they bring them to the church for their Confirmation. In all of these sacraments we are welcoming these children into the church, receiving them into the family of believers. That work of welcoming children is of tremendous significance, as is clear from this morning’s gospel reading. There Jesus identifies himself very closely with children. He goes so far as to say, ‘anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me’. Jesus is declaring that in and through our children we encounter Jesus and his Father. Elsewhere Jesus identifies himself with the most vulnerable - the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, the imprisoned. Children, by definition, are among the most vulnerable. They are dependant on others for life in all its dimensions. The gospel reading suggests that ministry to children and to young people, whatever form it takes, is a sacred ministry; it is indeed holy ground.

21st May >> Fr. Martin's Reflections / Homilies on Today's Mass Readings (Inc. Mark 9:30-37) for Tuesday, Seventh Week in Ordinary Time: ‘Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me’. (2024)