29th Sunday Ordinary time: Service and suffering, October 18, 2009
Once there was a discussion among three people, a doctor, an engineer and a politician about who is doing the greatest service to the society. Doctor said; “we the doctors are doing the greatest service to the society because we heal people and restore life. Thus we participate in the healing ministry of God”. Then the engineer said “we are doing the greatest service to the society because we drew beautiful plans and sketches for the building and we build beautiful building. Thus we participate in the creative act of God. Then it was the turn of the politician. He said” we the politicians are doing the greatest service to the society. You know that God created everything out of Chaos. We create the Chaos in the society. Thus we are doing the greatest service to the society.
Who is the greatest before God? Who can do the greatest things for the people?
It is a desire of many people to be great before the world. It is a good desire! Nothing is wrong with it. But Greatness consists not in what we have, or in what we can get from others but in what we can give of ourselves to others. This ideal is important for us as we celebrate the mission Sunday today. World Mission Sunday highlights our responsibility to help and spread the message found in the scriptures. In our own time, I suppose Mother Teresa was an outstanding example. Her greatness was in the giving of her whole self to the very lowest, treating them as brothers and sisters and living close to them and like them. And the world recognized that. Her greatness was not in her fame or even in her reputation for holiness but because of her spirit of service to those most neglected and to those in need and suffered with them. Mother Teresa was a great missionary bringing the Gospel message of service to the very poorest. She and her sisters went on missionary work to different parts of the world. Like James and John and the other disciples, like Mother Teresa and many others, we are all called to be missionaries. To be good missionaries we have to hear Jesus’ words about where real greatness lies. It is a message that is not always easy to hear in a society like ours. We are all called to be not only disciples and followers but also apostles and missionaries and to be of service to our brothers and sisters.
All the three readings of today touch the theme of service and suffering. Prophet Isaiah in the first reading speaks of the sufferings endured by the servant- suffering servant. The first reading is taken from the closing verses of the servant song in Isaiah where the poem begins and ends with the testimony from God about accomplishments of the servant. His self reflects on his life telling us how generously and submissively he gave himself up. Amazingly God is pleased with him because by his suffering and death the servant won the forgiveness and healing for the world.
The same theme of suffering and service continues in the second reading from the letter to the Hebrews. It tells us that we have Jesus the high priest who has gone through sufferings and will be the source of comfort and grace. That is the service he renders for the people.
In the Gospel Jesus speaks about his own sufferings and tells the disciples about his passion and suffering leading ultimately to his final glory. When John and James become very ambitious in their life with a great desire to be seated at the right and the left side of Jesus, Jesus asks them: “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink? Can you be baptized with the baptism with which I will be baptized?” They respond to him without any further understanding that it is possible for them to drink the chalice of Jesus
As we continue the Gospel Reading, we see how the other disciples are upset when the brothers asked Jesus for the honor of sitting at the right and left side of His heavenly Throne. Understandably, when the other ten heard of their ambition they were very angry. It was not because they disagreed but because they felt cheated. Perhaps they too wanted such a position. These two had gone behind their backs and pulled a fast one. They too had totally missed the point. So now Jesus brings them all together and tells them his view of greatness and success in life. There is only one way to greatness and it is his way. Teaching them to be spiritually minded, Jesus told the disciples, to become great, they be as servants; to be first, they must be a slave to all. Jesus Himself did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. His example of perfect love is our example. Thus Jesus makes his point clear through his corrective teaching about true greatness not being centered in authoritarian ruling but in service and servant hood. For them the model is Jesus whose true authority was rooted in service towards all.
We are all called to follow Christ with an attitude of suffering and service towards others. As many in our society strive for success, fame and wealth, followers of Christ are called upon to look for opportunities to suffer with and to serve others. On August 14, 1941, Saint Maximilian Kolbe died of starvation in the place of a young father so that he may live. We view this act of self-sacrifice as extremely beautiful Christian love. What Jesus has done for each and every one of us far surpasses what St. Maximilian has done for the young man. Thus to be a disciple of Jesus we must accept our call to serve others as he served. At the Last Supper he gave the example and washed the feet of his disciples and told them that they too ought to do likewise. At certain times the disciples of Jesus had the basic misunderstanding of his mission and message. While Jesus was preaching on the Gospel of suffering, death and service, they were looking for power, fame and glory. In our society the word service has many meanings; but today as we celebrate the Mission Sunday it includes the efforts of men, women and children who work to spread the Gospel and offer Christ’s healing and forgiveness to those who have never encountered him. Hence service is an essential component of Christianity. The true mark of our faith is how we treat others in life. Our celebration of this Eucharist is an acknowledgement of our dependence on God and each other and our willingness to follow the example of Jesus Christ.
