P. Daniel Antonio de Carvalho Ribeiro, SCJ
SUNDAY GOSPEL REFLECTION
25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mk 9:30-37)
Year B – September 22, 2024
The reason we love God is God himself and the measure of loving him is loving him without measure. Last Sunday, we saw that Peter first showed that he was aware of Jesus’ identity by calling him the Son of God, but he failed to understand what this meant. So, Jesus calls him Satan and explains that he had to suffer a lot, be killed and then rise again after three days (cf. Mk 8:31). Today’s Gospel shows us Jesus’ pedagogical way of insisting that his disciples be formed together. He knew that the lesson had not been understood, because instead of asking how it would happen, they were more concerned with arguing among themselves about who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of God.
This discussion between the disciples reveals a little about the historical context of that time, in which there were many conflicts over the best seats in the synagogues, banquets and other public places. These places were defined by hierarchical order and were certainly the subject of heated discussions. Possibly the disciples had already realized and believed that Jesus was the Savior and thought that He would have an imminent Kingdom that could be implemented when they arrived in Jerusalem. We can even imagine the disciples’ heads planning the “ministries” that each one would have when Our Lord implemented his Kingdom. Believing that Jesus was the Savior, they began to plan what the human advantages of being His disciples would be. As you can see, this human desire to take advantage, even in religious environments, is not something exclusive to our time.
Jesus, like a great teacher, waited for the appropriate moment to correct them, and in a quieter moment, at home, he sat down and began to teach them, questioning them about what they were discussing on the road, giving them the opportunity to speak. As they refused to say what they were discussing on the road, Our Lord continued his teaching and said that “whoever wishes to be first must be last of all and servant of all” (cf. Mk 9:35). This was the time to make things clear before they arrived in Jerusalem. There was no more room for the disciples to entertain false illusions based on earthly gain from following him. Jesus clearly announced that the Kingdom he was bringing was not of this world and that earthly ambitions would not be fulfilled by him. Jesus reaffirms what he had clearly said to Peter and will say again in the next chapter: He was a different Messiah, who would suffer a lot, die, but would rise again (Mk 9:31).
Nowadays we also tend to create a God of our own convenience. How many people say they no longer have faith because deep down things didn’t turn out the way they wanted. There are people who persist in saying that they can’t understand why God doesn’t solve the problem of the world’s ills, why He doesn’t do this or that… In fact, there is a tendency to hold Him responsible for the consequences of human errors and to create a God in our image and likeness who must follow our advice and will. Faced with this reality, we should meditate on the words of Saint Augustine: “God does not want to be understood, he wants to be loved”.
Christian logic is really different from the logic of this world. In an environment where people were arguing over the most important places, Jesus places a child at the center (cf. Mk 9:36), someone who had no place of prominence in banquets and synagogues. This shows us the incongruity of thoughts such as prosperity theology, which states that the more we offer God financially, the more he will reward us materially. Faced with this self-interested religious logic, almost a millennium ago, another Doctor of the Church, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, said that there are three ways of loving God: the love of the slave, who “loves” because he fears punishment; the love of the merchant, who loves because he expects some benefit in return; and finally, the love of a father, who loves unconditionally because the other is his child. At a time when many Catholics are leaving their community out of disappointment with the members of the Church, the words of the saint of Clairvaux are timely, and he adds that the reason for loving God is God himself, and the measure of loving him is loving him without measure. We can say that anything that falls outside of this is a caricature of love based on fear of supposed divine punishment or bargaining with God.
The late American priest Fr. Leo J. Trese used to say that it only takes a little biblical knowledge to realize that Jesus makes three promises to us in his teachings. The first promise, as we saw last Sunday and reaffirmed indirectly in this Gospel, says that whoever wishes to follow him must renounce himself, take up his cross and follow him (cf. Mk 8:34). Secondly, that he will be with us until his second coming (cf. Mt 28:20). Finally, Jesus promises us that whoever perseveres to the end will gain eternal life (cf. Mt 24:13). Dear brother, let’s not create expectations based on human criteria for our Christian life. God will not reward us for our human titles and achievements, but for our faithfulness and true love, especially towards those who suffer the most. This is why following Jesus requires faith and detachment.
To avoid any search for human advantages in following Christ, St. Therese used to say that she preferred the last place, because for that place no one would fight with her. This is the Christian life, a dying to self in order to conform ourselves to Christ who suffers and was crucified. The advantage of all this is that in this way he will live in us, we will have a peace that the world cannot give us and we will achieve the greatest good that no one can steal from us, eternal life. Let us ask Mary Our Mother, the model of Christian life, to teach us that the Christian community is not a place of privilege, but a place of service and unconditional love. Only in this way will our faith not be based on fragile and insatiable human conveniences.
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