September 20, 2015: Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent.
They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
“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 9:30-37)

Reflection

This Sunday in the gospel we hear Jesus continuing to talk to his disciples about the future and what will be asked of him and of those who follow him. He is a good teacher and friend to them, always wanting to prepare them for what lies ahead.
But the disciples seem lost in their own needs. They were arguing about which of them was the greatest so when Jesus asked them what they were talking about, they were embarrassed and kept quiet. Jesus tried again to help them understand. He used a little child as an example. Jesus wanted to show them that each person’s life is really important from the youngest to the oldest, the richest and the poorest. Would you have wanted to be that child — having Jesus take you by the hand and tell everyone that children are important because Jesus is in the heart of us all?

Action

Do you ever compare yourself with others? Do you ever think — “Oh, she’s better than me ,” or “I’m really smarter than him.” Is that really important? Maybe you could try one day — when you have those kind of thoughts — to just say to yourself , “She is a child of God just like me,” or “Jesus loves him just as much as Jesus loves me.” Jesus wants to teach us that just like he wanted to teach the disciples. Let’s have ears that listen and hearts that try to understand.