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25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

September 22, 2024

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Introit

Kyrie

Gloria

Collect

O God, who founded all the commands of your sacred Law
upon love of you and of our neighbor,
grant that, by keeping your precepts,
we may merit to attain eternal life.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever

First Reading Wis 2:12,17-20

The godless say. 12 “Let us lie in wait for the righteous one, who makes life inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; who reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. 17 “Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; 18 for if the righteous one is God’s child, God will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. 19 “Let us test him with insult and torture, so that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. 20 Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected.”

Responsorial Psalm Ps 54:3-4,5,6,8

R. The Lord upholds my life.

Second Reading Jas 3:16-4:3

Where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. 18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace. 1 Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? 2 You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures.

Alleluia Cf. 2 Thess 2:14

Gospel Mk 9:30-37

After leaving the mountain 30 Jesus and his disciples went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” 32 But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him. 33 Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. 35 Jesus sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”

Catena Nova

Regard yourselves as ministers and servants, reflecting that you have more need to serve them than they have to be served by you. God could very well provide for them by other means even better than you (St. Angela Merici).

Practice those little, humble virtues which grow like flowers at the foot of the cross: helping the poor, visiting the sick, and taking care of your family with all the tasks that go with such things and with all the useful diligence which will not let you stand idly by, for great opportunities to serve God rarely present themselves while little ones are frequent (St. Francis de Sales).

God delights in those who make themselves little and become as little children; He keeps them near His person, and nourishes them with the milk of divine love, in order to prepare them for the sweet wine of holy love, which inebriates those who drink it; but it is a blessed wine, which gives daily more wisdom (St. Paul of the Cross).

To serve others, I need gentleness, humility, abjection, and charity. In every sick person I should see, not a human being, but Jesus, and so should show him respect, love, compassion, joy, and gratitude at being able to serve him, zeal and gentleness. I should serve the sick as I do the poor, making myself do the lowliest services for them all, as Jesus washed the apostles’ feet. I must tolerate the presence of evil people, as long as their wickedness is not corrupting others — as Jesus tolerated Judas (St. Charles de Foucauld).

Know you what it is to be a child? It is to be something very different from the man of today. It is to have a spirit yet streaming from the waters of baptism; it is to believe in love, to believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be so little that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to turn pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses, lowness into loftiness, and nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy godmother in its soul; it is to live in a nutshell and to count yourself the king of infinite space; …. it is to know not as yet that you are under sentence of life, nor petition that it be commuted into death. (Francis Thompson)

The disciples can’t grasp the fact Jesus must suffer. They aren’t even willing to try to make sense of what he has said, even the part about rising after three days. Yet they remain with Jesus! They do that even when they see they don’t understand him. They remain steadfast, faithful and are patient. Jesus, for them, is a kind of advance payment of confidence. They give him time to grow in their hearts! More, God bears with them. Their hearts are darkened; they don’t understand. They are stuck and scarcely even want to leave their ignorance behind….There is a lesson for us in all this. Compare all you grasp and understand—all that is clear and straightforward—with the obscure and baffling things, the hidden and not comprehended ones, all that is mysterious and unspeakable. When we do this, we understand that what we do see is like a tiny candle shining in endless darkness. How could anything else be possible, granted that we are on a pilgrimage? We are making our way through things that seem only parables rather than realities. We are on the way toward the everlasting light. And we are told it is an unapproachable light! It is God. What we seek only God can give. Wouldn’t it be foolish to expect that everything will be intelligible? Wouldn’t it be foolish to accept only so much as we can understand? God is for us incomprehensible, so God must lay hold of us. Only when God does, can we let ourselves be made open to God. God is infinite and we must be open to that. But only if we are open wholly is there any hope for us. More than hope, however, we have the promise that we will find everything. Remembering this we cling to God, even in darkness. We must be faithful and patient and loving toward God, just as our God is toward us. (Karl Rahner)

The Lord knows that his influence will actually be greatest in children, children who are without complications, who thirst for love, feel his love, surrender themselves to it, and take it with them into their lives as a matter of course. In doing so, they allow everything else, Christian faith and Christian hope, to grow in them along with this love as a unity, of which they as children obviously do not have a comprehensive vision. They only feel that the Lord loves them, and he really does. In order to remain in this love, which is precious to them because it corresponds to their yearning, they do, or at least try to do, what love demands. In this respect, they are very different from adults, who oftentimes have so distanced themselves from love through sin that the reception of love becomes a problem for them. They shy away from surrender, shy away from understanding that the Lord loves them and asks, as the only response to his love, their love. With children, everything is simple. Children want to be loved. They are astonished when people do not love them. If they have behaved badly, they do what they can to come back into love. Sin and disobedience, as that which brought them out of the order of love, are painful to them. They yearn for love. When they are allowed to go to the Lord and are not hindered, they find themselves back in love and remain in it. And when the Lord so simply invites children, he means by them all those who want to be like children, who have a genuinely childlike yearning for his love. It would be a sin to block the path of such childlike persons to the Lord. (Adrienne von Speyr)

Homily

Somewhere between Peter Pan’s idyllic childhood where one never grows up and W.C. Field’s jaundiced “I never met a kid I liked,” lies a more balanced approach to doing as the Lord instructs, namely receive a child – presumably because children reveal something important about receiving him in turn (cf. G). I say a balanced approach for I'm sure we're meant to grow up and the Kingdom of God is not Never Never Land. So what is it about a child that makes for a stand-in for Jesus and his kingdom?

Well, children possess a charm that disarms even the most jaded among us. So much so that we tend to idealize children, speaking of them in the most attractive terms. Their innocence, their spontaneity, their trusting nature make us love and cherish them. So it's no wonder the Lord Jesus made a child the model for those who would be greatest in the kingdom of God. Surely, he had in mind the wonderful qualities of children that day he took one and placed it in the midst [of his disciples], and putting his arms around it . . . said to them, ‘Whovever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me.’ (G)

For Jesus is the ideal Child of God who comes to us lowly and gentle, with no other thought but to serve his brothers and sisters. The best traits of children remind us of him whom God has sent. So that whatever makes us receive children with such tender affection draws us to Jesus too, and through him, to God, who loves us as father and mother do. The reverse is also true, by the way, God loves the child in me and in you: Including that "inner child" who may not always have been loved or nurtured or supported or who has yet to grow up.

But let’s be realistic. Not everything about children is sugar and spice. There’s plenty that’s not very nice - like temper tantrums, stubbornness, and defiance. The words “No” and “I don’t want to” are prominent features of children’s burgeoning vocabulary -- especially when responding to a parent’s request. So we shouldn’t be too romantic about childhood. Like everything human, there’s a fair mix of goodness and mischief in every child. As there is in all of us.

So what then about Jesus’ saying? Was he wide-eyed about children, unaware the coin has another side? I doubt it. He was much too astute about human nature for that. In fact, if you read a little further in Mark’s gospel, you’ll find parents bringing children to Jesus. And the disciples were very annoyed. Maybe they'd been crying during the sermon, or asking too many questions. So the apostles thought them a disturbance, not company fit for Jesus. And they tried to shoo them away. But Jesus became indignant and ordered the children brought to him. (Mk. 10:13) Just as they were. With angel's wings, and devil’s tail! Like we all have.

Look at the behavior of God’s children portrayed by the apostle James. They were no angels, that bunch. James almost seems like a referee breaking up a schoolyard fight: Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from,? he asks (II). God’s kids in that church sure didn’t seem fit for the kingdom of heaven. Yet despite James’ scolding and chiding he never once disowns them. Oh yes, they were an embarrassment to their elders, what with their jealousy and selfish ambition, their disorder and foul practice (Cf. II) — but they were still part of the family. Yes, with a lot of growing up to do, but still called “brothers and sisters” in Christ, truly God’s children.

For God’s kids, you see, are always God’s kids. Like your own children are yours, no matter what, so we are God’s. Sure, we should heed and obey the wisdom from above (II), that God gives us for our own good, like the guidance parents give their children. And yes, we should get along with our brothers and sisters in the household of faith, sowing the fruit of righteousness in peace (Cf. II). But trouble is, our favorite words too often enough “No” and “I don’t want to” as well.

And that's because we behave like children, don't we? Sometimes adorable, sometimes not. But that doesn’t keep us from coming to Jesus or him receiving us. He still says to you and to me, Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these (Mk. 10:14).

So we come to the family table today — as we are, taking our seat, and fed by the One whom God sends as the servant of all: Our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns, forever and ever. Amen.

Intercessions (Joe Milner; The Sunday Website)

For the Church: that we may be servants of one another, particularly of those in need, and thus bear witness to God’s love for everyone.

For a clearer recognition of healthy and unhealthy ambitions: that we may be aware of the motivations that stir our hearts and respond to those that lead us closer to God and toward greater wholeness.

For the poor and powerless in our society: that we may hear their voices, understand their pain, and humbly walk alongside them through life's challenges.

For all who have been impacted by hurricanes, floods, or wildfires: that God will strengthen them, remove the obstacles which they encounter, and guide them to the assistance that they need.

For healing amongst the daughters and sons of Abraham: that God will heal the wounds and misunderstandings, and bring greater cooperation amongst followers of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.

For greater recognition of the harm being done to the earth: that world leaders and each of us may take meaningful steps to curtail the environmental damage of the planet and work to protect the poor and vulnerable from its effects.

For Refugees and Immigrants: that those who have fled violence and starvation may find safety, new communities of acceptance, and the resources needed for life.

For the unemployed and those facing evictions: that God will guide them to beneficial resources, help them to maintain their housing and family life, and open new opportunities for them to use their talent.

O God, protector of the poor and defender of the just, in your kingdom the last become first, the gentle are strong, and the lowly exalted. Give us wisdom from above, that we may find in your servant Jesus the pattern of true discipleship and the grace to persevere in following him, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever (ICEL; 1998).

Offertory Chant

Offertory Hymn

Whence comes jealousy? ambition?

With them live disorder’s ways.

Unlike them is purest wisdom—

Full of mercy, all its days;

Peaceful, gentle, and compliant,

Bearing righteousness and praise.

But the wicked, in their doing

Find “obnoxious” heaven’s plan

And, conspiring for its failure,

Seek to kill the Son of Man;

With revilement and with torture

Scare him from his chosen stand.

If we seek to be the foremost,

We must seek to be the last;

Serving God by serving neighbor,

Ev’ry sin away to cast,

Curbing passions with His mercy,

Till Christ’s Kingdom come to pass.

Communion Chant

Closing Hymn

Children of the Heavenly Father
Safely in his bosom gather
Nestling bird nor star in heaven
Such a refuge e’er was given

God his own doth tend and nourish
In his holy courts they flourish
From all evil things he spares them
In his mighty arms he bears them

Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord his children sever
Unto them his grace he showeth
And their sorrows all he knoweth

Though he giveth or he taketh
God his children ne’er forsaketh
His the loving purpose solely
To preserve them pure and holy