20171002
WHO IS THE GREATEST?
Readings
at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: White.
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First reading
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Zechariah 8:1-8 ©
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The word of the Lord of Hosts was addressed to me as follows:
‘The Lord of Hosts says this.
I am burning with jealousy for Zion,
with great anger for her sake.
‘The Lord of Hosts says this.
I am coming back to Zion
and shall dwell in the middle of Jerusalem.
Jerusalem will be called Faithful City
and the mountain of the Lord of Hosts, the Holy Mountain.
‘The Lord of Hosts says this.
Old men and old women will again sit down
in the squares of Jerusalem;
every one of them staff in hand
because of their great age.
And the squares of the city will be full
of boys and girls
playing in the squares.
‘The Lord of Hosts says this.
If this seems a miracle
to the remnant of this people (in those days),
will it seem one to me?
It is the Lord of Hosts who speaks.
‘The Lord of Hosts says this.
Now I am going to save my people
from the countries of the East
and from the countries of the West.
I will bring them back
to live inside Jerusalem.
They shall be my people
and I will be their God
in faithfulness and integrity.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 101(102):16-21,29,22-23 ©
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The Lord shall build up Zion again and appear in
all his glory.
The nations shall fear the name of the Lord
and all the earth’s kings your glory,
when the Lord shall build up Zion again
and appear in all his glory.
Then he will turn to the prayers of the helpless;
he will not despise their prayers.
The Lord shall build up Zion again and appear in
all his glory.
Let this be written for ages to come
that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord;
for the Lord leaned down from his sanctuary on high.
He looked down from heaven to the earth
that he might hear the groans of the prisoners
and free those condemned to die.
The Lord shall build up Zion again and appear in
all his glory.
The sons of your servants shall dwell untroubled
and their race shall endure before you
that the name of the Lord may be proclaimed in Zion
and his praise in the heart of Jerusalem,
when peoples and kingdoms are gathered together
to pay their homage to the Lord.
The Lord shall build up Zion again and appear in
all his glory.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn14:6
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
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Or
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Mk10:45
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The Son of Man came to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 18:1-5,10 ©
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The disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in
front of them. Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become
like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the
one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven.
‘Anyone who
welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. See that you never
despise any of these little ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven
are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven.’
WHO IS THE GREATEST?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ZECH 8:1-8; PS 101:16-21, 29, 22-23; LK 9:46-50 ]
Who is the
greatest?
We all aspire to be the greatest in life. To be great means to be
famous, to be the best, to be the most powerful, the most important person and
to hold the most prominent position in life. Greatness in the world is
always spelt out in terms of worldly values. Many people want to feel
great and be great. Greatness for us means to hold the highest place of
honour, recognition and prestige in terms of position, strength and
power. Many aspire to be the guest of honour or to sit at the VIP table
for dinners and events. This certainly was in the mind of the apostles
when “an argument started between the disciples about which of them was the
greatest.” This came about because earlier on, Jesus brought His
three closest disciples to the Mountain where He was transfigured.
The rest of them must have felt jealous and started to compare among themselves
who was the greatest.
But Jesus made
it clear that greatness in the kingdom of God cannot be seen in worldly terms. What
is greatness is smallness in the eyes of God. Conversely, what
appears to be small and insignificant, as a child, is the greatest in the
kingdom of God. Accordingly, Jesus brought a little child before them and
said, “Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and anyone
who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For the least among you
all, that is the one who is great.” To welcome a child is to welcome the
most insignificant person in our lives because children in those days were
considered to be non-persons, seen but not heard. They were among the
most vulnerable people in those days. In this context in the first
reading, we can appreciate the vision of restoration would include the elderly
and the young boys and girls.
Greatness
therefore is not focused on self, on thinking about ourselves or feeling great
about ourselves or important before others. Greatness concerns the other
person.
One becomes great by not seeking to be great. This is the irony of
greatness. Mary was certainly great because she was chosen to be the
mother of the Saviour. But this honour was bestowed upon her by
God. She did not feel that she was great and so rendered all honour back
to God in the Magnificat. Furthermore, her immediate concern and priority
was to immediately go and help her cousin Elizabeth who had conceived John the
Baptist in her old age. To be great requires that we not focused the
honour we receive on ourselves.
In the eyes
of God, we are great when we reach out to help not just the poor, but the
poorest and the most insignificant people in society. That is why we
consider St Mother Teresa of Calcutta great, not because she was of nobility
but because she was noble in giving herself in total service to the poorest of
the poor. Her greatness lay not in external honour or position but in her
virtues, especially of compassion, generosity and kindness. Such a person
is truly great in the eyes of God because she shares in the life and love of
God, in His mercy and compassion. Greatness ultimately lies in our union
with God in mind and heart.
Hence, what
is most important is not whether we are great or not in the eyes of the world,
but whether we are great in the eyes of God. If God is
pleased with us, in our service to the poor and those in need; and if God is
honoured and given respect and love, then this would be our greatest
reward. To be recognized by God and to be loved by Him is greater than
any other things this world can offer. That is why we must do everything
not for man but for God. In whatever service we perform, let us remember
that we are serving God and not merely our human masters. To be
able to serve Him is already a great honour!
Thus, we are
called to be like the Israelites in the first reading, to build up the lives of
our people.
We are called to build the city of God to make a better place. The people
who were discouraged upon returning from exile to see the place in ruins were
given encouragement by the prophet that God would see to the restoration of
Israel and the Temple. We, too, become truly great when we seek to
rebuild the lives of our brothers and sisters within the Catholic community or
in our society, especially when we do it without ulterior motives. This
is the meaning of greatness. Truly, who are those most remembered in history?
Not those who were rich or famous or even powerful, but those who changed lives
and made lives better for their fellowmen. Great people are those
who serve humbly and selflessly.
So, we must
seek true greatness in life. We must avoid falling into the same ignorance of the
apostles who were comparing among themselves as to who was the greatest in
terms of power and position in their lives. Just earlier on, the nine
apostles who were left behind were jealous that Peter, James and John were chosen
as the inner group of apostles of Jesus. Then upon Jesus’ coming down
from the mountain, they were embarrassed to be seen powerless in casting out
the evil spirit in the boy suffering from epilepsy. Their jealousy did
not stop even after Jesus gave them the lecture on true greatness. For in
the next scene, the apostles attempted to stop a man who was casting out devils
in the name of Jesus. They were envious that someone who was not
one of them could cast out evil spirits when they could not. But Jesus said,
“You must not stop him: anyone who is not against you is for you.”
True service
comes from magnanimity of heart. Indeed, if we are truly selfless, we should not be bothered
as to who is doing the job and getting the credit. So long as God’s glory
is served and our fellowmen are helped, we should be rejoicing with them.
So long as they bring people to the Lord or render assistance to the needy, we
must rejoice, even if sometimes their motives are not too clear. This was
the attitude of St Paul who wrote, “Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry,
but others from goodwill. These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that
I have been put here for the defense of the gospel; the others proclaim Christ
out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but intending to increase my suffering
in my imprisonment. What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is
proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I
rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.” (Phil 1:15-18)
In this case, clearly, for the apostles, it was not a matter wanting to
help others because even at this stage when Jesus was predicting His imminent
passion, they were still bickering over position, power and honour. Their
attitude is similar to some of us when our loved ones are dying; instead of
trying to give encouragement and love to the dying person, we are squabbling
and wrangling over the property and estate that we would get upon the death of our
loved ones.
Indeed, let
us pray for true humility in service, imitating our Blessed Virgin Mary and
John the Baptist. Our greatest joy is to serve the Lord and the
bridegroom. We keep the words of Jesus who reminds us that “Anyone who
welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me
welcomes the one who sent me. For the least among you all, that is the
one who is great.” With simplicity and humility of heart, let
us strive to be the greatest by being the smallest, the most insignificant and
unknown among the disciples of Christ. When there is service we must be
quick to be there to render service. Once service is done, we must not
wait around to receive honour and praise, but deep in our hearts, be thankful
that God has given us the necessary resources and good health to serve Him and
count us worthy enough to be His messengers of the Good News.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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