Called To Service By God, We Give Of Ourselves To Others!

Most of my early life I spent looking for where I belonged.  Attending multiple elementary schools due to personal problems between my mom and dad made it difficult to focus on where I was headed in life.  I had to adjust to each scenario, not because the classes were so different, but the schools and people in them had specific goals that often conflicted with what I became familiar in prior situations.

My security during those times and afterwards for many years was my ability to adapt.  In many cases it was easy and I was looked upon as someone who was smart, a team player and a reliable person.  On the opposite side, I was seen as a problem child, a loner and someone to be avoided.  I spent more time in the principal’s office or in detention and was talked “to” by more adults who were trying to help me fall into line with their way of thinking.

The last elementary school I attended was St. Mary of the Lake Catholic School on the north side Chicago.  I was there from fourth through eighth grades and split my behavior between Mr. Hyde for the first half and Dr. Jekyll for the other half.  I was opened to another philosophy in that we take care of one another.  It provided a good direction for my life.  Following graduation I entered Quigley Preparatory Seminary to become a priest.  My grandmother on my dad’s side was proud that all the time she took to teach me about Catholicism was starting to pay off; at least for the two years I attended.

So what does all this personal history have to do with our Gospel and readings today?  It helped me to begin focusing on what was really important in my life: Other people and their needs.  In my nine years of elementary school I was primarily looking into a mirror at myself and feeling discouraged because I wasn’t finding answers to all my questions about who I was and where should I be.

St. Mary’s and Quigley began to change my focus from my wants and needs to God being the center of my life and how I can serve all of His creation.  This perspective replaced the self-centeredness I had been consumed with for so many years.  My initial attitude was similar to the Apostles James and John in St. Mark’s Gospel today who believed they were superior to those not in the inner circle with Jesus and deserved more by being honored above and beyond everyone else.    

This convoluted thinking is often arrived at because we are taught to be self-centered if we want to maintain a lifestyle that gives us everything we want or believe we need.  By doing so, we lose sight of how most people live and become callused to reality.  This causes upheaval in the masses and what is left is chaos so that no one is at peace or receiving joy.

As Christians, we are taught by Jesus to reach out to those in need, if we want to change a world that seems to have lost its focus on what is right for everyone.  The last sentence of the Gospel succinctly defines the purpose for why we are called as disciples: “For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus teaches us, as his disciples, that true greatness lies not in what we have, or in what we can get from others but in what we can give of ourselves in humble service to others.  Jesus invites us to take our ambition for greatness and turn that energy into service.

In the study guide entitled At Home with the Word published by Liturgy Training Publications, there is an insert on the 29^th Sunday in Ordinary Time that references the Greenleaf Center at Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey.  They offer a leadership style being adopted by companies and organizations to enrich lives and build a society that is focused on compassion and justice.

We all want to be somebody.  Today’s readings contrast celebrity with service.  To be the person God has created us to be, let us take this week to perform three acts of service that no one will see or know about.  By doing so we hopefully will better understand the sacrifice Jesus made for us through His suffering and death on the cross so we can carry on His work as the true disciples we have been called to be. 

Reading 1: Isaiah 53: 10-11
Reading 2: Hebrews 4: 14-16
Gospel: Mark 10: 35-45