Twenty-fifth Sunday

Twenty-fifth Sunday Ordinary
September 24, 2006

"Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us" (Wisdom 2:12-20) "The wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy...." (James 3:16-4:3) "What were you arguing about on the way?” (Mark 9: 30-37)

The readings this Sunday seem to point in the same direction, encouraging us to pursue a life of virtue and humility, and to avoid the more gross forms of selfishness, competition and envy. Wisdom quotes those who set out to put the Just One to the test to see whether adversity will deflect him from his mission. This passage has always been taken as referring to the Messiah, a foreshadowing of the coming of the suffering servant, the Son of Man.

The letter of James reflects on the contrast within the human soul between envy and aggression on the one hand and peace and self-acceptance on the other. The truth is that, unlike the Just One, we all are both victim and persecutor. We are all good people who have made poor choices which have hurt ourselves and others, and been undeserving recipients of harm from others.

Jesus in the gospel is addressing the issue of his trials to come, wanting to have his disciples understand their meaning and purpose. Apparently they are more interested in other things, like which place they will hold in the Kingdom, what it will be like to be the disciples of a victorious Messiah, and who will be the greatest among them. No wonder he told them not to talk to anyone! Jesus, hoping to jolt them out of their complacency, tells them that in the Kingdom all predictable priorities are reversed. The smallest children (who counted for very little in the ancient world) will be in the greatest places and those who aspire to being first and greatest will have the least stature.

It seems that no matter how often we hear words like this from Jesus, we still compete with each other about who is the smartest, or the most beautiful, or the wealthiest, or most in possession of the truth. Much of this is fueled by envy, one of the most subtle and destructive of human impulses. We become angry and resentful about what other people have -- or appear to have. Our economy of consumption thrives on the resulting competition. Whenever I get into that mode, realizing I cannot separate what I want and don't want in another person's life, I ask myself if I really want someone else's life? Invariably I conclude that I would rather have my own life and problems, thank you very much.

We can say with David, "The Lord sustains my life" (Psalm 54). We have the right to call upon the Spirit to uphold our lives when we deserve it and when we don't. Divine wisdom invites us to see and love the truth about ourselves, to be content with what we have and who we are. We pray daily with Jesus' words, "Lead us not into temptation" ("Do not subject us to the test").