Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mass Readings

• First Reading Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
• Responsorial Psalm Psalm 54:3-4, 5, 6 and 8
• Second Reading James 3:16-4:3
• Gospel Mark 9:30-37

Open the Mass Readings on USCCB.org →

Step Into the Story

The wicked in the Book of Wisdom plot against the just man because he calls himself God’s child: “Let us see whether his words be true.” At Calvary the chief priests would say nearly the same thing. In the Roman world a child had little standing. In a papyrus letter from 1 B.C., found at Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, a man named Hilarion tells his pregnant wife that if the baby is a boy she should keep it, and if a girl, cast it out.

1. 4 B.C.Antipas rules Galilee
2. 1 B.C.Hilarion’s letter home
3. 14 A.D.Tiberius becomes emperor
4. c. 20 A.D.Antipas founds Tiberias
5. This week’s scene: c. 29 A.D.Who is the greatest?

Walk through Galilee with Jesus and the Twelve, perhaps half a year before His death. He does not want anyone to know; He is teaching them that He will be handed over and killed and will rise. They do not understand, and they are afraid to ask. Hang back a little on the road and listen to them. The voices drop, then rise: who among them is the greatest?

Come into the house at Capernaum with them. Jesus asks what they were arguing about. Silence. Feel the embarrassment in the room, the eyes on the floor. He sits down, the posture of a teacher, and calls the Twelve to Him. Then He reaches for a small child and stands the child in the middle of them all. Watch the child’s face, and His, and wait.

Encounter the Lord

Walk behind the disciples on the road to Capernaum. Jesus is ahead, speaking of His death. Behind Him, they are arguing about who is the greatest. When He asks what they were discussing, they fall silent.

We know that embarrassed silence. Jesus does not scold. He sits down, calls the Twelve, and puts a child in front of them. The way up in His kingdom is down: serving, welcoming those who cannot repay you. James names what lies beneath our quarrels: jealousy, selfish ambition, envy. St. Gregory the Great lists the bitter fruit of envy. The cure is the wisdom from above: peaceable, gentle, full of mercy.

This week, do a hidden act of service for someone who cannot repay you. If you feel envy toward someone, pray for that person’s good by name.

Know Your Faith

Christ, the Obedient Servant

Jesus fulfilled the role of the suffering Servant, obedient unto death (CCC 539, 565, 601). God permitted the acts that flowed from the blindness of those who handed Him over in order to accomplish His plan of salvation (CCC 600).

To Serve Is to Reign

Christ, King and Lord of the universe, made Himself the servant of all. For the Christian, “to reign is to serve him,” particularly in the poor and the suffering (CCC 786).

Ministry as Service

The ministry of priests is entirely a service, related to Christ and to men (CCC 1551). Christ is present in the ordained minister as Head of His Body and Shepherd of His flock (CCC 1547-1548).

Envy and Peace

Envy is a capital sin; it can lead to the gravest crimes (CCC 2538-2539). The baptized person should struggle against it by exercising good will and humility (CCC 2540). Peace is the work of justice and the effect of charity (CCC 2304).