25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Wis 2:12, 17-20
Ps 54:3-4, 5, 6-8
Jas 3:16--4:3
Mk 9:30-37

Hello, I’m Franciscan Father Greg Friedman, with the “Sunday Soundbite” for Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

In the spring of 2003, a feature-length film appeared in theaters, telling the true story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who defied Hitler and gave witness to the Gospel in the face of the Nazi tyranny. One of Bonhoeffer’s best-known books is The Cost of Discipleship. Its very title comes to mind as I read today’s Gospel.

Here, Jesus teaches his disciples that he will suffer and die, but the disciples are not only baffled by what the Lord is telling them; they’re too busy arguing over who among them is the greatest!

Jesus must remind them once again that the Kingdom demands a lot of the disciple. True greatness lies in service. True disciples take the side of those who are powerless, like the little child Jesus embraces in the story.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived at a time when many religious people chose to ignore a great evil, or worse-collaborate with it. Bonhoeffer wrote, taught, and eventually gave his life in a Nazi prison, to witness to what the Gospel demands: We must speak for the voiceless, even if our service costs us our own lives.

Today’s Christians may not face evil on such a global scale, but they nevertheless have lots of opportunities for true Christian witness. May Christ give us strength to consider, and to pay, the cost of discipleship.

Scripture:

•“…Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him.” (Wisdom 2:12,20)

•The arrogant have risen against me; the ruthless seek my life; (Psalm 54:5)

•You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:2,3)

•“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all. Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9:35b,37)

Reflection:

•Can you possess what you covet? Can desire be sated?

•Can war succeed to a legitimate end?

•Name a twentieth century prophet killed embracing justice. Is there any way to silence a prophet? Who can “kill” a prophet?

•Why does coveting first rank last?

•How did Jesus lead through being servant to all? How are you a servant leader?

They shall be saved only if they begin to do what Christ wills: only if they abandon a lavish life lived at the expense of the poor….let them stop murdering those of us who toil for a more just distribution of the power and wealth of our country. (Archbishop Oscar Romero)