I am third - Servant of all

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time September 22, 2024

Homily on YouTube

Wis 2:12, 17-20 Ps 54:3-4, 5, 6 and 8 Jas 3:16—4:32 [Thes 2:14] Mk 9:30-37

♫ From the voices of children Lord, comes the sound of your praise. ♪♪ ♫ From the voices of children Lord, comes the sound of your praise. ♪♪

When I first read today’s Gospel in preparation for writing my homily, what immediately came to mind as Jesus was presenting a child to his disciples was this refrain from a hymn I learned back in grade school.  I don’t know the actual name of the hymn, or remember any of the verses, but it is the refrain of a hymn we learned for our all-school Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, most likely for the Responsorial Psalm, and as a child the words of the refrain struck a chord with me.  Singing this hymn’s refrain as a child gave me a sense of purpose, belonging, and value because my voice was the sound of praise to God.  And early on I realized that it wasn’t just my singing or my voice that gave praise to God, but all of me.

As we look at the first part of our Gospel reading today, Jesus is teaching his disciples about the coming of his passion, death and resurrection, which echoes what we heard from the book of Wisdom in our first reading today, and what we heard in last week’s Gospel.  And like last week, the disciples don’t get it, and along the journey to Capernaum they begin to quarrel amongst themselves as to who is the greatest.  Why?  Well, if Jesus is going to die, who will succeed him, who would be chosen to lead after he is killed?  But all of them were too afraid to ask or question Jesus, I mean look at how Peter got rebuked last week for his comments, and so instead they simply quarreled amongst themselves. 

Jesus knows full well what is going on, yet he remains quite until they get to Capernaum and once inside the house, he asks them:  What were you arguing about on the way?  But he receives no response as they remained silent.  Have you ever been in a classroom or a workshop where the instructor asks a question, and no one responds?  Total awkward silence!  This is when Jesus presents to them a child and says: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all... Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me."

This reminds me of a saying Fr. Larry Richards uses when he speaks at Youth Conferences, and Men’s Conferences.  “I am third!”  If we are to be disciples of Christ and to live as he did, we must put ourselves last.  God first, others second, and ourselves third.  Why a child?  Why did Jesus use a child to convey this message? 

The child symbolizes the weak, helpless, and vulnerable in our society.  They need to be lovingly cared for and looked after.  Infants cannot feed themselves, bathe themselves, or change themselves.  Young children must be taught to speak, walk, read, and write.  And so, receiving a child into one’s life is accepting the responsibility of caring for all their needs.  As parents, whenever we cook a meal for our family, we serve others first and ourselves last.  In most things, if not in all things, we put the needs of our children before ourselves. 

Mothers of new borns quickly learn to distinguish the different sounds their babies make to determine their needs.  In fact, there is one study that suggests there are five universal sounds all babies 0-3 months of age make, which helps the mother recognize the babies need. [emulate these sounds/cries] NEH = Hunger [from the child placing tongue in a position to suckle] OWH = Sleepy [from a yawning sound] HEH = Discomfort [roll me over or change me] EAIR = Lower Gas [hand gesture around the stomach and squat – like a pooping sound]   

[after the sound say = we all know what comes next!] EH = Burp As parents, we are servants to our children, recognizing and then caring for their needs.

Jesus is a Servant King who is not seeking glory, but desiring humility, and he comes to serve those in need, the children of God.  To feed the hungry, heal the sick, to lay down his life as a willing sacrifice of praise.  As disciples we must imitate his example of love and self-sacrifice.  To be a true disciple of Christ and leaders of His Church, one cannot put themselves first, one must be willing to be a servant of others, especially to those who are most vulnerable and most in need.  We must be third.

Our cultural society today tells us to do the opposite.  To put ourselves and our selfish needs above all others.  As Saint James says in our second reading, it is because of our selfish ambition that there is disorder and every sort of foul practice.  This is why we have contraception, abortion, and euthanasia.   We don’t want to inconvenience ourselves with unnecessary cares and responsibilities as we work to achieve our personal goals.  We cannot be burdened with the needs of others as we seek to possess our passions.  “I am first” becomes our mantra, the opposite of “I am third.”  And so we place ourselves first, others second, and God third.

We are all God’s children, and if we want to be great in the Kingdom of God, we must be willing to recognize the needs of all of God’s children and become servants of all.  To humble ourselves in service to God by attending to the needs of others, especially the most vulnerable and the ones in most need.  To sacrifice ourselves and willingly lay down our lives for one another. 

Our Parish family does this through various ministries:  Pro-life Committee, Evangelization, Bereavement Ministry, Elder Care Ministry, Jayden’s Quilts, Nursing Home Ministry, Spritzers, Stitches for Life, The Care Service along with the Adopt-a-family program, the Knights of Columbus with their No Hunger Holiday and other ministries, Jonah Prayer Ministry, Divorce Support Ministry, Eucharist to the sick and homebound, and many more.

Let us make time to participate in these various ministries and others, and learn to recognize the sound of those in need.  To see those in need.  When we participate in these and other ministries, when we serve others, they will sing the praises of God.  Together as His children, threw our actions/deeds, we can all sing praise to our God our Heavenly Father.

♫ From the voices of children Lord, comes the sound of your praise. ♪♪ ♫ From the voices of children Lord, comes the sound of your praise. ♪♪

Homily on YouTube