Homily originally presented September 23, 2018

Being the Greatest means serving others!

The University of Alabama football team has had a fine start to their season and are rated the #1 football team in the country.

This is quite an outstanding achievement considering there are some 120 college football teams who compete at the highest level of Division 1A sports.

So Alabama is ranked #1.        But you know what ... Alabama was ranked #1 way before the season even started!                 Yes, before the first football was kicked off ... and before the first pass was even thrown ... Alabama was ranked #1.

Such is the energy and emphasis that sports fans put on the game of Football.

They’re so concerned with who is going to be #1, that they begin ranking teams

over the summer … before we even know who’s playing at each position!

Oh, how glorious it is to be #1!

The amount of time and money that is invested to attain this status …is enormous.

Bearing the title of #1 is the desired goal of our competitive human nature

and the crowning glory of our human pride.

It’s in us to compete ... and it’s in us to compete well ... and to be the Greatest.

Recall the words of the young Boxer Cassius Clay who after he turned pro and changed his name to Mohammed Ali declared to the world, “I’m the greatest!”

Recall too, the 4 musicians from England known as the Beatles, who rose to prominence, and made the remark that they were now more popular than Jesus!

And then there’s LeBron James, who plays basketball for the LA Lakers ...

who sports a tattoo on his back saying, “Chosen 1”.

And lest we forget the fastest man in the world, Jamaican Usain Bolt, who upon winning the gold medal at the Summer Olympics said, “I am now a living legend!”

The Greatest, the Chosen, the Most Popular, the Living Legend … these are

the titles we humans seek.    They show up in every arena of our lives

from sports to politics, from school to business, from hobbies to community.

If you’re going to compete, why not strive to be #1?

There’s an internal yearning to be the best, to be “the greatest” at whatever you do.

On one hand this can be good for personal growth,

it can also be good for teambuilding, and it can be good for the common good.

But we need to recognize that ... attaining the status of #1 … in the eyes of God

... is accomplished in a way that is quite different from

the methods we use to achieve greatness in our worldly pursuits.

In our Gospel today, we hear that the disciples were arguing about this very thing. Mark tells us,

“they had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.”

In other words … they wanted to know, which of them was #1 …

who was the #1  Disciple of Jesus.

So, Jesus calls them together to guide them ...

but His words are radically different from what they expected. Jesus says,

 “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”

Wow! How different that is from our human plans for greatness ...

where we do all kinds of practice & preparation,  study & training …

not to serve the other guy … but to surpass the other guy!

In our human endeavors, we don’t get the title of #1 by being last.

But Jesus says quite clearly that those who are the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven have accomplished this by being ... the last of all and ... the servant of all.

So, the question is:

Where and for how long do you want to be “Great”?

Do you want to be great ... here ... for the rest of your earthly life?

Or do you want to be great ... in the here-after ... for the rest of your eternal life?

The guidance that Jesus proposes today is known as ... a paradox.

A paradox is a statement contrary to regular opinion. It come from the Latin word paradoxum, where para- means beyond, and doxa means opinion or to think.

So a paradox is a statement where you get a desired result

by doing exactly the opposite of what you would think you’d do.

Interestingly enough, paradox is the very way that Almighty God chose to perform

His great work of Salvation ... what we call The Paschal Mystery.

The word “Mystery” is certainly appropriate in the term Paschal Mystery, because so much of what God did there was a paradox to our human way of thinking.

For example, our All-Powerful God allowed Himself to be power-less in the hands of evil men.                    Did that show that He was #1?

And this paradox was foretold 50 years before the birth of Jesus ...

as we heard in our First reading from the Book of Wisdom.

The Wisdom writer says, “The wicked say … with revilement and torture let us put the just one to the test … let us condemn him to a shameful death.”

And then in today’s Gospel, Jesus Himself reveals that this would be the way that salvation would unfold as He tells His disciples,

“The Son of Man will be handed over to men and they will kill Him.”

How could this be? The Jesus who they had seen perform countless miracles of making wine, multiplying bread, healing the sick and even raising people from the dead, was now talking about being overwhelmed by evil men and being put to death.

Why would the all-powerful Son of God submit Himself to the power of men?

How could it be that Salvation would come from submission?

How could it be that the wealth of the Kingdom of God (that Jesus spoke of),

would be expressed in the poverty of the Passion?          It’s a paradox!

It’s the paradox of God ... that abundance comes from emptiness;

as when Jesus, owning all, dies without a thing. 

It’s the paradox of God ... that intimacy shows up in desolation;

as when Jesus is deserted by His Apostles when He is arrested.

It’s the paradox of God that the eternal love of the Father

is expressed in abandonment,

as when Jesus cries out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”

Most significantly, we see the paradox of God ...

where Life in God … is made possible by … the death of God!

How unbelievable this had to be for the disciples to hear Jesus say that evil men would kill Him. Thank goodness, Jesus added that three days later He would rise

… but the Apostles did not understand.

What Jesus was telling them was... that you must die ... in order to live.

To have eternal life with God in Heaven, we must die to life in this world.

He’s telling all of us that attaining the wealth of Heaven does not mean attaining the wealth of this world. Heaven comes from living lives of giving not receiving!

St. James points this out in our Second Reading today. He says,

“Where … selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.”  concluding:, “You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you do not obtain.”

What James is saying is that “Getting more, means giving more”.

What a paradox!

How different that is from what our culture says, “Grab for everything you can.”

Society says gather and collect ... save and store up... as much as you can.

But God says, don’t be selfish ... look out for one another ... and give until it hurts.

Today Jesus says,

“If anyone wishes to be first, he must be the last of all and the servant of all!

It goes against human thinking … but it’s the perfect wisdom of God.

And once you try it ... once you begin to render service to others ...

you will immediately begin to see God’s wisdom.

You will feel it in your soul ... because … we’re all at our best when we give!

In order to get the title of Great in the eyes of God,

you have to give of yourself to others!

That’s the way God designed it!

God is the Great giver.

And having made us in His own image and likeness …

 we’re designed to be great givers too!

So, ask yourself  whether you want to be “Great” here for the rest of your life

Or, be “Great” in the here-after for eternal life.

Muhammed Ali used to be great … but he’s not great anymore.

He died two years ago after 32years of sickness.

The Beatles used to be popular … but they’re not popular any more.

They broke up 48 years ago and most kids today don’t even know who they were!

Life as we know it is fleeting … and greatness here on earth is fleeting too!

But, Life with Jesus in Heaven is not fleeting.

The Greatness that we experience there will endure forever!

Let’s recognize that greatness in the eyes of God is not attained the same way

   we achieve greatness in the eyes of others.

Yes, it still requires practice & preparation, discipline & determination,

• but not in working to surpass others …
• but rather working to serve others.

As we strive to be great in our human endeavors,

let’s also be of service to others in our home, our church and our community

so that we attain the ultimate title of greatness … which is the title of Saint.

That’s the title all human souls wear in the Kingdom of Heaven …

and it’s the title they’ll keep... for all eternity!