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"Who is The
Greatest"
Peace! In today's
Gospel (Mk 9: 30:37), the disciples were arguing among themselves as to
"who is the greatest?"
The
disciples did not answer Jesus when he asked them what they were
discussing. Nevertheless, Jesus said to them, "if someone wants to be
first, let him be last of all and servant of all." Jesus called a little
child to illustrate what it means to be servant of the community.
World's Measure of
Greatness.
It is
commonly held that greatness is measured in terms of success. A person
is condered great if he has made it in business or in politics, if he
has accumulated vast wealth andpower, if he has landed on the front
pages of Time or Newsweek. Having
succeeded in life, they have even became untouchable and people regard
them as respectable no matter the way they acquired their wealth and
power. Thus, greatness is equated with what a person has wealth,
honor, fame.
God's
Measure of Greatness.
Jesus
called the Twelve and said to them, "if someone wants to be first, let
him be last and servant of all". Firstly, then, for Jesus, the answer
is service. The greatest of all is the one who is able to serve his
fellowman. It is to be other-centered. It is the ability to see the
needs of others and respond accordingly. The
greatest person, farm from being one who has amassed power and wealth,
is one who has offered his life in the service of the community, who
has looked after the needs of its members. "Anyone among you aspires
to greatness must serve the rest; whoever wants to rank first must
serve the needs of all."
Secondly, to illustrate what it means to be the servant of the
community, Jesus placed a little child in their midst and said to the
twelve, "Whoever welcomes a child such as this in my name, welcomes
me..." In saying so, Jesus underlined our need for humble dependence
on God as a child depends on its parents, and called us to serve
especially those who are small and weak like little children, which
includes the poor, the lost and rejected. Since
in the Jewish community at the time of Jesus, a child was a symbol of
a person who had no rights at all, whose importance was not
recognized, to accept a child is to accept anyone in the community,
however lowly, make oneself available to him, and recognize oneself as
no better than the marginal in the community. Having this attitude,
one no longer aspires for greatness in terms of power, wealth, fame or
importance.
Finally, in answer to the query as to "Who is the greatest in the
Kingdom of Heaven?", Jesus had said," Whoever humbles himself
like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mk 18:1-5).
Thus greatness is measured not by power or authority, but rather by
the great humility which is assumed by "becoming like a little child"
which translates to the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" as the Lord
Himself told His disciples.
"Lord,
grant me the heart of a child who lives in utter trust of your
provisions." |
