Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Taking a child, he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it …” Mk. 9:36
We humans crave power.
We all do. We love titles and awards, sitting at the head table, getting to rub elbows with the “In” crowd, showing off our latest upscale acquisition, having influence with those who have status, being the first to share the latest gossip, bragging about our child being the smartest in the class, and having the most “Likes” on Facebook.
The disciples of Jesus were no different.
They even went so far as to argue among themselves about who among them “was the greatest.” Who had the power? Who was the top dog? Who had the inside skinny with Jesus?
In all fairness, the households in which people back then were raised were entrenched in a power structure distinguished by gender, class, and age. Slaves were at the bottom of the power ladder – followed only by the most socially inferior group of all: children.
Children were invisible, unnoticed. They counted for nothing.
Knowing this, imagine the uproar and the shock when Jesus officially answers the disciples’ question by telling them: the prize for the “greatest among you” goes to … a child!!
A child?
The least noticed, the least important now becomes the standard for who is the greatest among us?
That’s almost as daring as when Jesus healed a leper – the major outcast of all societies. And almost as outrageous as when Jesus allowed another social outcast, a woman, to wash his feet and dry them with her hair.
Once again, Jesus not only rocks the boat, he sinks it. He upsets the very structure of first century society. He turns everything upside down and inside out.
And he’s still doing it to this day.
And, if this weren’t enough, Jesus goes a step further. To make the invisible ones even more visible, and to make sure no one misses the point, he uses an unmistakable show-and-tell:
Jesus takes a child and, “putting his arms around it,” dramatizes the heart-felt meaning of his message.
This, he’s telling us in no uncertain terms, is what true power and true authority looks like:
Service.
Service to the most vulnerable. Service to the most invisible. Service to the weakest.
If you want to be truly great, and truly powerful, and truly number one in my Kingdom, Jesus tells us, use this child as your model.
Serve. Don’t “lord it over.” Serve. Don’t abuse or exploit or take advantage. Serve.
And so we come to present day society.
Sadly, we are still challenged by this gospel in terms of our contemporary treatment of children. Kids certainly have more rights than they did in first century Palestine. They are unquestionably more cherished and honored and noticed by their parents and society than ever before.
Yet, more than 3 million cases of child abuse are reported each year in the United States. Every 2 hours a child is a homicide victim. Every 2 hours a child is killed by firearms. Every 4 hours a child commits suicide. Childhood exploitation for forced labor and prostitution is a worldwide problem. The trafficking of children, for example, has become a $9,500,000,000 business annually.
To add to this alarming situation, the whole world has been shocked by the reality of child sexual abuse involving priests and the leadership of the Catholic Church over a period of many decades. The number of priests who have been involved is staggering. That scandal is topped only by the almost universal practice of covering up the unbelievably extensive abuse by the hierarchy.
Children are always vulnerable and easily exploited. And the reason remains the same:
Power is misused for personal gain. As the old saying goes: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Jesus offers a remedy:
Turn power into service.
Imagine a world that did that!
Ted Wolgamot, Psy.D.
