Reflection for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time

(Wisdom 2:12, 17-20, James 3:16-4:3, Mark 9:30-37)

What were you arguing about on the way…?

Whoever receives one child….

At our parish church this past Sunday, a bright, little six-year-old boy was lifted up by his father to the baptismal font, and was washed clean in the saving flow gained for him by the Passion of Jesus. He giggled, but remained safely in his father’s arms, as he received this once-in-a-lifetime sacrament that opened for this little one the door to God’s Kingdom.

Again, this week in the readings, the cross and death of Jesus are before our eyes (Mark Chap. 9), but also his resurrection. Wisdom (Chap. 2) and Saint James (Chap. 3) both allude to the rising from sin and sorrow by which the Lord helps us to regain our peace and equilibrium. Jesus gained this for us by his own suffering, foreshadowed in Wisdom. “…let us put the just one to the test, that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience…for God will take care of him.” Where is proof of my gentleness? Some days I have to look hard for it, or look for forgiveness! But the Lord Himself will take care of me. St. Padre Pio and the beautiful surrender prayers encourage us to let Him lift me up as a child of God. Jesus, I surrender myself to you; take care of everything. He will.

Saint James addresses the daily challenges of the problems we can bring upon ourselves. He has the order right, first calling us “beloved” which we truly are, as you know, friends. Then he mentions the human passions that grace must replace. “Where do the…conflicts among you come from? …from your passions that make war within your members.”

St. Thomas Aquinas has written about the passions, and by knowing basically how they work, we can choose that our emotions be directed by reason, and so can lead us to acts of virtue. This requires patience and also alertness on our part, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. How does this happen? There are many bits of information that come to me each day through my senses, all of which are processed by my intellect, and then…my will – my love and decision-making power – has to make a choice about what to do with the information it has received. What is my choice? I can feel as if on the precipice of a decision, and it is hard to wait for grace.

God never abandons us, since our Baptism, but so silently assists us, and lifts us up, to make good and reasonable decisions as we go along our day. Reason is the support that guides our emotions and our passions toward the truth. As the baptized child during his life will purify his soul in the Sacrament of Penance and feed it in the Eucharist, I too, strengthen myself by receiving these sacraments frequently. My well-reasoned choices then become a blessing, and my family and the whole mystical family of the Church benefit from it.

In Mark’s Gospel, the Apostles had been arguing about who was the greatest among them, sadly acting out of their passions, and Jesus gently enlightened them. Whoever wishes to be first…shall be the last of all and the servant of all…. Whoever receives one child such as this, …receives me; …[and] the One who sent me.” Father, lead us to the Divine Child in each little one that we encounter, so we will welcome and embrace him in each one.

Help us to fulfill our baptism in the many waters of grace you give us each day. We want to be faithful to the end. Like the young father lifted his son up to the font of life-giving water, my Heavenly Father’s Son lifts me and gives me to drink from the Font of his heart.

Like the Apostles, we have no reason to argue, because we are all chosen children of God.