25thSunday of OT year B 2018:
Today in our second reading we get some more practical wisdom from St. James. You definitely get the feeling that St. James knew what he was talking about. Today he says: Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. How true! You don’t have to look far in this world of ours to see just how dangerous jealousy and selfish ambition can be. These attitudes can be very destructive. I think that all of us should take a minute to think whether these attitudes are part of our own lives as well. It can be quite easy to be carried away by the waves of jealousy and ambition. Maybe at work, we get upset because some other employee seems to get the preference. In school, we become jealous because another kid gets all the attention. Or in our lives, we look around and think that the grass is greener everywhere else we look. These attitudes certainly do not bring us peace. They cause pain and anxiety. And we already have enough of those right?
Also, these attitudes are quite antithetical to the message of Christ. Jesus Christ is the son of God and he came to serve, not to be served. He gives us the wonderful example. If we can follow his lead, we can overcome jealousy and ambition. But, if we struggle with these attitudes, know that we are in good company. I find this gospel passage more than just a little bit amusing. Here is Jesus talking about how he will gladly suffer and offer his life for our salvation. Yet, the apostles are arguing about who is the greatest. What an amazing contrast. Christ is the son of God, and he’s talking about being the humblest of all. The humble fishermen are arguing about who’s the greatest of all.
So, if you think that you need to learn more about humility from Christ, the apostles did too. We are in good company. Now, I would be tempted to keep talking about humility and it’s importance. But, I think all of us here know that humility is important. We know that jealousy and ambition cause us problems. We get all that. How do we grow in humility?
I really liked how the gospel began today. I think it gives us the insight into how we grow in humility. It begins by saying that Jesus and his disciples left and began a journey. Along the way, he was teaching them. The answer is so simple that it can be missed quite easily. The answer is quite simply being with Jesus.
We will never learn humility on our own. Rather, we need to learn it from Christ. But, we can’t learn anything from Christ if we are not with him. Jesus taught the apostles humility through his own example. Christ can teach us humility too, but we have to spend time with him.
So, the question we can all ask ourselves today is: am I spending enough time with Christ for him to be able to teach me anything? First, prayer. Prayer is the privileged way for us to establish, maintain, and increase our relationship with Christ. Daily prayer is essential for all human beings. Is there a time in your day, every day, that you spend it with Christ? If we are going to learn from Christ, he needs a chance to speak to us. Prayer is that opportunity.
Second, the scriptures. Reading the bible is an important way for Christ to teach us. The Bible literally contains the words of Christ. St. Jerome said it so well 1600 years ago: ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ. If we don’t know the bible, we won’t know Christ. But, the bible can seem intimidating right? Well if so, come to my bible study class tomorrow night. The first lesson is all about how to read the bible. It will be helpful for St. John’s gospel. But, it will also be helpful for the rest of the bible as well. Another good way to get to know the bible better is to read the daily mass readings every day. You can get them sent to your email account. Just go to the USCCB website and sign up.
I could give you a million more tips. But, let’s just keep it simple. If we want to learn from Christ, we need to be near him. We need to spend time with him, if we want him to teach us. Prayer and scripture are two amazing ways for us to spend time with Christ and for him to teach us. St. James teaches us that jealousy and ambition can cause us lots of problems. So, let us all go to Christ and ask him to teach us his way of humility and peace.
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