Step right up, be first in line!

Mark 9:30-41

           When I was in the seminary we usually had a family picnic in the late summer to rekindle relationships and to welcome the new seminarians. On one particular summer, the new Bishop came sauntering in and cut right in front of me in the midst of a long line for burgers and corn.  No apology and I could not help but notice him load up his plate and sit down to enjoy his feast. He was certainly not in any hurry to go anywhere except eat. Perhaps it was judgemental of me but I could not help but think how he put himself first as if he was entitled.  I mean, it wasn't as if I said, please your Eminence, get in line in front of me. I will also confess, he arrived in the diocese with considerable baggage and one of his first actions was to oust a group of nuns from their meager quarters in a diocesan building so he could create one grand residence for himself. Even if the nuns somehow had willingly offered the space, does the shepherd of millions of people need to create such a lavish residence for himself? The diocese certainly has some of the richest people in the nation but also a great many of it's poor. What need is there for 3 refrigerators?, one for food one for white (wines) and one for reds? Really? Really??

          The Archbishop of Atlanta recently came under fire for having a 2.2 million dollar residence created for himself. The outrage was swift and loud. The money could be much better spent on the profound poor in the area rather than the lavish residence for Archbishop Wilton Gregory. 

          A similar problem occurred in Germany where a bishop had spent astronomical sums of money (41 million) on his residence which included a garden which cost over a million dollars (1.1 million) and a bathtub which cost over  thousand dollars. This German Bishop is in grave trouble on any measure of the word. Pope Francis suspended  Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst

         This is not to say all such problems are Roman Catholic in origin. The lifestyles of the rich and famous televangelists are the stuff legends (and often debauchery) are made of.

          Whatever happened to the 'whoever wishes to be first shall be last' rule.  It certainly seems lost on the hierarchy of the Roman church although Pope Francis seems like a true model for the clergy taking a small apartment instead of the grandeur of a Papal palace. 

          So you don't think this is simply an exercise in clergy bashing, even if it is rather easy to do, what have you done lately to put others before you? What have I done in service to my brothers and sisters that puts them before me? Assuming you feel compelled to try a be a holier, more Godly person, what service have we rendered?  Put another way, how many times do we put ourselves first and feel without hesitation that we deserve it?  Do you have a sense of entitlement that the good Bishop Willy has?

           In God's eyes we are all equal, equally loved but all also equally judged since it is only he who can legitimately do so.  It may be simply a matter of scale but are we as guilty as people who seem to stand out putting themselves first? 

          This is a personal question but one I pose to us all.  I am not putting forward this question as an innocent but one that needs to reflect on where I stand myself. Where do you stand? 

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; 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.’ But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’

John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.