TWO QUESTIONS FOR 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time SUNDAY 18 OCTOBER 2009

I have two questions for you this morning that I hope we can answer by the end of my homily:

Where do we want to sit in this world?
And What do we get excited about?

In the children’s book Yertle the Turtle and other stories by Dr. Seuss, Yertle the turtle is king of the pond, but he decides that his kingdom was too small. He plan was to stand on the backs of the other turtles. He manages to bully the other turtles into allowing him to stand on them. Finally he can claim to be king of all that he can see. That is until Mack, (an Irish turtle, of course,) has enough of Yertle’s dictatorship and Mack burps, causing all the turtles to tumble and Yertle comes down last of all and sinks deep into the mud. Yertle realizes that his glory cannot be rooted in the injustice of oppressing his fellow turtles!

This tale, no doubt, conveys a truth about humanity that many of us would like to deny about ourselves. (pause) Like Yertle, we all want to sit in glory. We want people to notice us, see us; we need attention, be popular and be successful – and for some people that even means stepping on others to get there.

But once you have the glitz and glamour and a million hits on your youtube account, website, or accumulate 3000 friends on facebook, or have thousands following your twitter, then what? Where does being number one lead? To what purpose? Where does this worldly success lead?

You know, for the past several weeks we have been learning that there was ambition and jealousy among the disciples. They keep fretting over trivial matter while Christ keeps speaking of his impending crucifixion, and explaining how dying to selfishness must be the pattern for all of his disciples’ lives.

Today JAMES AND JOHN approach Jesus with a mundane request. "Teacher, grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."

It all seemed like such an innocent request, but was it coming from selfish motives and a sense of self-importance? As followers of JESUS of NAZARETH they may have sense they shared his power.

Jesus replied: “You do not know what you are asking.” Can you drink the cup that I drink? Can you be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"

They said to him, "We can." WE CAN?

You are thinking as human beings, not as God thinks. You HAVE NO IDEA WHAT you are TALKING ABOUT and do not know what you are saying, but you will drink of my cup of suffering, and you will be baptized into my death.

THE OTHER TEN APOSTLES BECOME INDIGNANT – perhaps because they feel that James and John have one-upped them. They likely recalled Peter’s words from last week, "Lord, we have given up everything and followed you." And Jesus promised them eternal life! What more did James and John want? Greedy sons of thunder!

Jesus said to his disciples, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers lord it over their subjects! Their great ones make their authority over others known! But it shall not be so among you. Not among you. It shall not be so among you.

The American idea of success, so deeply ingrained in us, is based on the need to prove that “I am better than you.” Even relationships are sometimes based on competition, and the need to win at fights or arguments, or dominate others through verbiage or violence. The idea of being last in order to win is an absurd idea according to our world.

But Jesus knows that if we only seek to finish first we won’t have any time to serve others, people who are slower than us or who cannot even walk.
Unlike Yertle the Turtle, Jesus’ vision for us as a community is not one where the rich, powerful, and privileged step on the poor, weak, and powerless. Jesus calls us to be His Body, the Church, the Body of Christ, where the weak support the strong, and the strong support the weak! Jesus breaks down the walls of separation that keep people apart and brings them together where they will sit together and feast at the same table!

But the poor often resent the wealthy and the wealthy fear the poor and hide behind delusions of power or importance. Yet Jesus invites all to sit at his table – and every seat is a throne of honor! This is the body of Christ, this is the meaning of Church!

Jesus acknowledges that his teaching is revolutionary. Following Jesus' example of sacrificial love continues to be countercultural in our day as well. But the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many! Now we are invited to do the same! He will be with us! He will be in us! We might take this opportunity to examine our own exercise of authority. On whose example do we model our leadership?

To be first and the greatest according to Christ is to serve the needs of others. Jesus’ challenge is a call for us to “servant leadership”.

A great example of a servant leader and someone I truly respected, was the late Bishop Kenneth Untener of Saginaw Michigan. After his ordination as bishop in 1980 he greeted an assembly at the Saginaw Civic Center with the words: “Hello, I'm Ken, and I will be your servant.” Shortly thereafter he sold the bishop's residence. From then on, he would stay in one the parish rectories of the diocese, living with the parish priest for weeks or months at a time. As Archbishop Quinn said at his funeral Mass, “Bishop Ken did not simply say great things. He lived them.”

What an example for us – all us are called to be that servant leader; to give of ourselves as a ransom for many.

And That’s how we wind up seated next to Jesus!

That’s how we wind up enthroned at his heavenly banquet!

That’s how we achieve greatness! - In our leastness! In our serving!
In our faithful love and care!

I know, I know, it all sounds so ordinary, but that’s the mystery of the kingdom. The ordinary IS extraordinary!

Now that’s something we can get excited about!

Something better than facebook,

better than American idol,

better than youtube.

better than being seated next to our favorite celebrity,- even if it is Scarlet Johannson or Brad Pitt.

and certainly better than being enthroned on the backs of our fellow turtles.

The seats of glory in our world are many, yet the greatest seat of glory is being seated next to Christ, where we will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Come share your master’s joy! Inherit the kingdom, sit and eat and drink at my table!

Have we found that seat?

Look for an open seat next to someone and serve him, serve her. I assure you that many of those empty chairs will become for us our thrones of glory!

Of course, we will only fully realize in the next life that as we sat and served the least among us that it was Christ we were seated next to all along.

RESPECT LIFE SUNDAY

Jesus loves Children. In the past few weeks’ Sunday gospels he has challenged his disciples to be child-like. I did a little research on children and found several sayings of children.

When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth. Billy age 4

Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs. Chrissie age 6

Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and just listen. Bobby, 7

Along the lines of the gospel message today, young little Claire was showing some difficulty in grasping the concept of marriage. Robert, her father, thought the best way to teach her was to show her his wedding photo album believing that visual images would help Claire's understanding.

One page after another, he pointed out photographs of the bride arriving at the church, the entrance, the actual wedding ceremony, the signing of the license and the reception afterwards.

'Now do you understand, darling?' Robert enquired smiling.

'I think so,' responded Claire dutifully, 'and is that when mummy came to work for us?'

Children have much to teach us about our attitudes and our being open to the kingdom.
Jesus’ words today present a strong picture of his emphasis on the importance of family. God intended for women and men to be joined together in a COVENANT of marriage. Among the purposes of marriage is the education of and raising of children. By welcoming children and fostering their relationship with God, parents and families bear witness to the Kingdom of God. The people were trying to justify divorce.

Marriage is the building block of society. The Church continues to uphold Jesus’ teaching that God intends for a man and woman to make a lifelong commitment to one another in the Sacrament of Marriage. Jesus teaches that we should be like children before God, trusting God's promise to care for us and asking for his help to keep our commitments to love and care for others.

At the end of today's Gospel, the people were bringing their children to Jesus, and again Jesus' disciples show that they just don't get it. Recall that in the Gospel for each of the past two Sundays, Jesus has taught his disciples the value and importance of these “little ones” in the Kingdom of God. Jesus offers children as an example of the kind of complete trust and dependence upon God that ought to be the attitude of all believers

Today Jesus’ disciples were trying to prevent the children from going to Jesus. The people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.

Children are deeply affected by divorce, even if the divorce is the best thing for a married couple, the children are still deeply affected. I wonder if some of the children who were trying to see Jesus were children affected by the divorce of their parents? Just a speculative thought.

Psychologists and researchers have confirmed that babies and children who are held, hugged, and kissed, develop a healthier emotional life than those who are deprived physical contact. Likewise, as children grow up- even into their teenage years – they still need affirming hugs, pats on the shoulders, wrestling matches, tickle fests, winks, and the like.

The children who do not receive physical touch from their parents may know that their parents love them, but they will not feel that love. Many children and teenagers who get involved in drugs or criminal behavior report that they did not feel loved by their parents, and many report that the only physical touch between them and their parents was negative as in discipline or outright abuse. Sadly, some parents only touch their children in acts of aggression or anger. Even eye contact is so essential for children’s well being and sometimes the only time a child is given eye contact with his or her parent is when the parent gives them the evil eye or glares at them in anger. These kind of memories are touched into a child’s heart and psyche for the rest of his or her life.

My paternal grandmother & grandfather always kissed us. After grandma died, my grandfather would always wink at me when he came to Mass when I was serving Mass. That simple twinkle in his eye and wink meant more to me than anything.

My own father-in-law never ceased to kiss his sons. Even if the sons were in public and had lunch with him, he and his sons would hug and kiss each other as they went their own ways. When I married his daughter, I then became as one of his sons and he would always hug and kiss me goodbye. On his deathbed he kissed each of us goodbye. It is something I will always remember. Both my grandfather and father-in-law were loving men who were images of Jesus to me.

It was not until I had children that I began to have an inkling of how much God loves us! I recall holding my son in my arms and just loving him for being. He would often fall asleep on my chest as an infant and the joy I experienced would bring me to tears. This is the kind of love and joy Jesus has for each of us! It is so incredible, yet so real!

As the boys have aged, they still love tickle fights and to have their backs rubbed. Physical touch for boys can become rough, but it is a real language that speaks love.

I am amazed at how communicative my boys are when I spend quality time with them, by just being with them, even if it is on a bike ride, a walk through the woods, shooting hoops in the backyard, reading a story to them, singing a song with them, sharing different music with them, watching a movie with them, or praying evening prayers together. My sons have both taken turns announcing that it’s time for a family hug and we all have to hug and give each other a kiss.

Jesus is the Word of God in the Flesh. He was and is fully human. Jesus makes it very clear that children are the true images of his disciples: “Let them come to me.” In today’s Gospel, the disciples who rebuked the children who wanted to approach Jesus display the attitude of many today. Jesus said: “‘Anyone who receives a child in my name, receives me.’ By welcoming children or adopting a child or children, people receive Jesus.

Every child is a precious gem. With their simplicity, openness, and love, children show us the path to salvation, bringing Christ into the world and leading us back to him.

Christ Jesus has empowered you and me to be his presence in this world! We are the one who are to stand up to injustice, to feed the hungry at our door, to welcome and protect the stranger, to raise up the fallen, those down on their luck, or exiled from family or country, the fatherless and widow!

All we have to do is look around to see the need! All the fatherless children, who will father them? God is their Father, this we know, but Christ came to set us free that we might be mother to the motherless, father to the fatherless, sister, brother, and friend to the friendless!

In the words of little Billy, let’s always remember that when someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth. Jesus says to each of us, come to me! Let us as His children come to Him.