Homily for October 18, 2015
Ordinary Time 29
Passion To Serve
God can
do a lot with enthusiastic people…once their enthusiasm is directed to the
right cause. I think of St. Ignatius Loyola. Before his conversion, he was a
worldly man – popular with the ladies, wealthy, vain about his looks (despite
the fact that he was only 5’2”). He loved to woo the ladies with tales of glory
on the battlefield, from his many years as a soldier in the Spanish army. He
saw himself as a knight in shining armor, winning the glory of the world!
In one particular battle,
however, a cannonball ripped through his leg, shattering it. It didn’t heal
properly, so Ignatius began to walk with a limp. He was embarrassed by this, so
he asked the doctors to re-break his leg…without
anesthesia! (This was the 1500s and their version of anesthesia was a big
gulp of whiskey!). As he was healing a second time, he was bored being stuck in
the hospital bed, so he asked for some books to read. He preferred books about
gallant knights and romance novels, but the good nuns who ran the hospital had
no such thing. So instead, they gave him the Gospels and the lives of the
saints. He began to read it, out of sheer boredom – and it completely revolutionized
his life. He realized that all of the worldly glory he was pursuing was
completely vain, and he needed to instead focus on Christ. When he got out of
the hospital, he became a priest, and ended up starting the religious community
known as the Jesuits, the largest religious community in the world. God took
this passionate, enthusiastic worldly man, and turned him into a passionate,
enthusiastic Catholic man…and a saint.
We see
some of this misdirected enthusiasm in today’s Gospel. Right before this Gospel
passage, Jesus tells His disciples about His passion – how He will be handed
over to pagans, scourged, and crucified. Immediately after this sobering
announcement, James and John asked for seats of glory! How could they do this?
Didn’t they just hear Jesus’ message of His suffering and death that He would
undergo?
On one
level, James and John must have been so pumped-up by the miracles that Jesus
had done. They had seen Him raise the dead, feed five thousand people, heal the
sick, walk on water. After seeing such remarkable things, they probably were
filled with such enthusiasm for the Lord! In fact, they were so enthusiastic
that when Jesus asked them if they were willing to suffer like He was, they
exclaimed, “We can! Bring it on! We’ll follow You anywhere, Lord!”
I
imagine Jesus being pleased with so generous a response. He assures them that
they will suffer with Him, because of
the generosity of their hearts. And, as it turns out, both James and John did
suffer. John was the only Apostle who shared in Christ’s sorrow by accompanying
Him to Calvary; while James ended up suffering martyrdom by beheading while he
was the first bishop of Jerusalem.
Jesus
goes on, however, to teach them the meaning of real glory. James and John have
generous hearts because they passionately believe in the Lord…but also because
they were hoping for a worldly reward. Jesus wants to redirect those generous,
passionate hearts towards service, not earthly prizes.
There is
a wonderful story of an old four-star general in the army who was retiring
after a long and decorated career. He was not only respected by the men under
him; he was loved by them, as sons would love a father. During his retirement
ceremony, he was asked what his secret to leadership was. He said very simply, “The
secret to leadership is this: officers eat last.”
He was
able to gain the respect – and the love – of his men because they knew that he sacrificed
for them. He was willing to make himself humble, eating last, working hard,
doing difficult tasks, for them. And this won their hearts.
Think
about the people in your life who have inspired you the most – maybe a parent
or teacher, a coach or mentor, a boss or a friend. I’ll bet that these people
were humble servants. People with worldly power may write history, but only
people who are humble servants really make a true impact in our lives.
There’s
a word in Greek that is used in the Scriptures to describe Jesus’ humble
service – the word is kenosis.
Kenosis means “self-emptying”. Jesus is the King of the entire universe – the world
should bow at His feet. Yet here He is, bowing down to wash the feet of His
disciples at the Last Supper. He empties Himself of His glory.
In the
same way, He describes this self-emptying (kenosis)
in sacramental terms – He says to James and John that suffering with Him will
be a baptism and drinking from the
cup – hinting at the Eucharist. In other words, those who have been baptized
and those who have partaken of the Eucharist must now empty ourselves for Him
and for others. The Sacraments must drive us to passionately live out our Faith
through concrete works of service.
Do you
love Jesus? Then do the dishes. Do you love Jesus? Then obey your parents. Do
you love Jesus? Then stay faithful to your vows. It’s really that simple – if you
are passionate about your faith in Jesus Christ, then make that faith alive
through sacrificial service. As Mother Theresa said, “There should be less
talk. Just grab a broom and sweep someone’s house. That speaks loud enough.”
But as
we’ve seen from James and John, it is easy to say to the Lord, “Yes! I love You
and I will follow You everywhere!” But then when the Lord says, “Okay, great.
Now follow me in kenosis, in emptying yourself for others in service,” it’s so
much harder to obey. James and John had generous hearts, and were willing to
suffer for Christ if that meant the glory of the world. Jesus told them that
their generous hearts must embrace the glory of service and kenosis instead.
We follow
Jesus, who came not to be served, but to serve, and to empty Himself for our
sake.
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