Sepember 19th - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Wis 2:12, 17-20; Jas 3:16-4:3; Mk 9:30-37)

In the first reading from the Book of Wisdom, the wicked ones propose to subject the just one to their torturous tests using language very similar to that used by the devil in his temptations of Christ. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down...God will save you.” In fact, this whole passage is often taken as prefiguring the passion of Christ, and the “wicked” are representative of the Jewish authorities in their treatment of Jesus. The rest of this chapter says that the wicked ones erred in their plans because they belonged to the devil. By the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and these wicked ones experience it.

The second reading and the Gospel both describe how we should get along as a community. The second reading from the letter of James tells us to be peaceable, lenient, and sympathetic, and to avoid jealousy and ambitious cravings. The Gospel from Mark has Jesus telling us not to strive to put ourselves ahead of others, but to be the last of all and the servant of all. Jesus makes this clear by placing a child in their midst and telling them they must receive such a child for the sake of his name. This is significant because children had very low social status in first century Jewish society. To spend time addressing the needs of such a low-status person (babysitting, really) is an example of putting one's own status in last place – which is exactly what Jesus asks us to be willing to do.

• If you participate in social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) have there been times when you have been more concerned about your standing in the number of friends, likes, subscribers, etc., than in being peaceable, sympathetic, and putting yourself at the service of the most lowly in your online community? How can you remedy that tendency?
• Have you ever mocked a just and tender person (perhaps in dealings with your own relative), putting him to the test to try his patience? If so, how did that work out for you?
• St. James wrote: “You do not possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Have you ever been so passionate about something that you were unable to consider that it may not have been what God wants for you?