29th Sunday of Ordinary Time, B October 17, 2021
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
“You can do whatever you set your mind to.” No, you can’t. This claim is made all the time by parents, teachers, advertisements, and politicians in our culture. Children are filled with this idea from the time they are very little and hear it repeated constantly until some brutal encounter with reality shatters this fragile illusion. Then they must choose between being willfully naive, coldly cynical, or coming to a greater realism. And few people really get to that last one.
I once wanted to be a fighter pilot and eagerly researched what it would take. I was going to “set my mind to it,” but I quickly found out it would be impossible. A fighter pilot must be short and must have perfect, uncorrected vision. The men in my family are over 6 foot and I needed glasses in freshman year of high school. I would be wasting my time and effort. Thanks be to God my parents were straightforward with me about this reality. I’m not sure I’d have found my way to the priesthood if I would have stubbornly chased down this dream with the idea that I could change reality to suit my desires.
We see this dynamic in James and John. In their ambition, they want Jesus to make them number 2 and 3 in the Kingdom. How does Jesus respond? “to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give.” Jesus Christ, the God-man, savior, messiah, and king of all creation doesn’t have the power to give them what they ask? How can this be? Because God the Father, the God of reality who providently rules over history, has decreed otherwise and obedience is the only right response. This idea that we can be whatever we want is not only out of touch with reality, it is unbearably selfish. Jesus knows that framing my life in terms of what I want for myself is rooted in a pathetic self-interest and is ultimately fruitless. A Christian life is a vocation, a call to love.
This is why Jesus immediately puts the focus on leadership as an act of service and self-sacrifice: “whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant.” This is the same man who said that “whoever wishes to save his life will lose it” and “carry your cross daily.” He is not interested in satisfying superficial dreams and desires, but in equipping them to respond to reality with love and authentic fruitfulness. It is a far cry from “you can do whatever you set your mind to.” But, if you set your mind to sin and illusion… better that you do fail!
This is not as dismal as it sounds. Even with their stark realities and painful trials, our live are so valuable to Jesus that he chose to be “crushed in infirmity” and “to give his life as a ransom” for us. He did not come to take away our hopes and dreams, but to give us real hopes and dreams that go far beyond our feeble ambitions. His triumph is not taking our suffering away, but that our suffering is given meaning through his cross. He is able to “sympathize with our weaknesses” because “he has similarly been tested in every way.” He showed us that this could be done without the false consolations of sin.
I am not just being optimistic. I witnessed the destruction inflicted upon myself and others that comes from relying on my own ideas and strength. It was only many nights of tearfully praying and clutching a crucifix that I learned how God’s plan for me is far better than my plan for myself. Even after that, I time and again had to face with the grueling reality that this life requires me to “drink the cup” of suffering which Jesus himself drank. Every Christian is called to this ongoing death to self. At some point, each of us must square with the fact that, on this side of heaven, the greatest thing a Christian can do is suffer well for the sake of Christ – our God was crucified and our heroes are martyrs.
Praised be Jesus Christ that this can be done with joy! As a priest, I’ve seen this in a variety of ways. People homeless and destitute who count themselves blessed because they still live to praise the Lord. Busy parishioners who squeeze in the time for confession and Mass and are grateful for it! Families drained by the constant demands of young children, but who overflow with love! I count it joy to be an instrument of God’s grace. People reaching out for God and, amazingly, finding some sign of him, some consolation in my feeble attempts to bring him to them. It is gift and it is something I could not have done for myself.
Yet, this is only possible so long I accept God’s plan over my own. Daily, we each must face down the temptation to seize control and make our lives about ourselves. Again and again the world promises “life is what you make it.” What a sad limitation! Why hold ourselves only to what we can imagine? Why not reach even higher to “what eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love him?”
In the end, we might be able to do some of what we set our mind to, but we have the word of God himself promising that we can do whatever God sets us to do. James and John wanted positions of political power, but God wanted them to reign eternally with him in heaven. It is good to dream, to aspire to greatness, to persevere in the face of difficulty. James and John were not told to lose their ambition, but to let it be transformed by God’s plan. The same is true for you and God’s method for all of us is the cross – it is joyful self-sacrifice that ends with resurrection. Do not run from it!
As I’ve challenged this parish to serve and sacrifice to make a future for ourselves and our community, gaze upon the cross and listen for his call upon you. Bring him your ambitions to be transformed by it. Let him push you to give more, to do more. And if you worry that you have nothing to offer – too poor, not able-bodied enough, too busy – do not be afraid! The Son of Man came to serve primarily by offering his life as a ransom, to suffer for us. If you suffer – and who doesn’t? – then you can always serve others by offering your suffering on this altar, the throne of grace. Done with sincere faith and generosity, that is a powerful gift, probably more valuable than anything else. As the letter to the Hebrews tells us: “Let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.” Grace to serve, grace to suffer with love. Come to this throne. Eat, drink and embrace the greatness you were meant for.
Awesome, Padre. ♥️🙏♥️