25th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Cycle
B
September
20, 2015 9:00am and 11am
Saint Margaret Parish,
Bel Air
“Compare and Despair”
Back in
2010, a Jesuit priest named James Martin published what I think is an excellent
book.
It is
titled: A Jesuit Guide to (Almost)
Everything. It is insightful and
enjoyable reading.
At one
point, James Martin talks about the human tendency to compare ourselves with
others. Sometimes we look at others and their
lives and may feel down because we think we don’t have it as good as they do.
James
Martin says that this tendency to compare is a real trap. He has this little saying: “Compare and despair.” “Compare
and despair.”
He says
that when we compare, we often minimize the good things in our own lives and
maximize the good things in other persons’ lives. And ironically, we often maximize the bad
things in our own lives and minimize the bad things in other persons’
lives.
So, “Compare and despair.” Martin advises that we just be with our own
strengths and challenges and find our peace right there.
Striving to Be First
This
insight helps us to appreciate today’s gospel.
The
apostles have been arguing about which of them should be number one – above all
the others. On the surface, each of them
is asserting that he should be number one because of his own special talents.
But my
bet is that, underneath the surface, each of them feels less than the others
and that being designated as number one would make them feel better. They are comparing and, as Martin says: “Compare and despair.”
In
response to this, Jesus points to a little child. And with the child, he teaches two lessons.
1. See the Value of Each Person
First,
each of us is already valuable just in being ourselves.
In the
culture of Jesus’ day, children were at the bottom of the ladder. For example, if a family did not have enough
food, the father would eat first, then the mother, and only then would the
children get what was left over.
This
sounds backwards to us. In our culture, some
of our parents may have held back on eating or on buying something so that the
children could have enough.
Well, in
that very different culture, Jesus says, “Whoever
receives a child such as this, receives me.” He’s saying that a child and who that child
symbolizes is valuable – anyone seen as insignificant, powerless or hurting.
So if a
child has such value and worth, then each of us does too. Our value is inherent in our very being and
is given to us by God.
This
means that we don’t have to compare ourselves with anyone and we don’t have to
be above others, as the apostles were trying to do. Our value or self-worth is already there.
2. Care for the Least
And then
Jesus teaches a second lesson with this child.
He
calls us to care for the insignificant, the powerless and the hurting among
us. He does this when he calls us to
receive the little child as if we were receiving him.
So, we
are not to compare ourselves and see ourselves as better than those whose
income is at poverty level. We are not
to look upon them as a drain on society.
When we
do this kind of comparing, the “Compare
and despair” rule acts in reverse. Here
we will not be caring for those in need and so they will despair.
I
sometimes think of it this way. In a
hospital, the health care professionals simply treat us when we are sick.
They
don’t ask if our intestinal or coronary trouble is our own fault because of
eating fatty foods and, if that’s the case, they refuse to treat us. They simply treat us, help us to get better,
and then advise us on how to take care of ourselves.
Well,
in the same way, we are to care for the insignificant, the powerless and the
hurting in our society. We are to do
this without comparing and seeing them as below us or as undeserving.
And interestingly,
Jesus is saying that again, in doing this, we ourselves will find
self-worth. Our sense of self will be
strengthened and enhanced.
