The Gospel passage for this 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B Cycle of the Lectionary for Sunday Mass) displays once again Mark’s exquisite use of irony. As Jesus teaches his disciples about his forthcoming passion and death, they are arguing about who is going to be regarded as the greatest. The “reversal of fortune” theme is common to all the Gospels; however, Mark brings the point home all the more powerfully by contrasting Jesus’ concern with that of the apostles. If you want to be great, then you must be the least!
Introducing a child into the teaching makes it even more powerful. However, I have a feeling that Western readers will miss Mark’s point because we value our children so greatly and will do just about anything to make it possible for them not only to live but to thrive. Oh yes, there are the odd examples of parents who harm their children. However, the vast majority of parents consider their children their greatest treasure.
This was simply not the case in the Middle East in the first century. Parents chose not to get too close to their children until they reached maturity. The reason for this was quite simple; children often did not live to see adulthood. 30% of all infants died at birth or shortly thereafter. Of those who survived the first year, another 60% died before puberty. Disease and poor hygiene were the main culprits. Children were the most vulnerable members of society. Consequently, parents avoided getting too close to their children so that the pain of losing a child would not be so hard to bear. When a son or daughter made it to puberty, their parents could breathe a little easier
The vulnerability of children was so pronounced that in times of famine, they waited until the adults were fed. In dangerous situations, the elders were the first to be protected. Before we think too badly of these people because of this attitude, we should remember that this thinking persisted even into the Middle Ages. Even Thomas Aquinas wrote that the children should be considered last when the family was in straits. Slaves ranked higher in the family hierarchy that minor children. Their value was greater than children whose lives might be snuffed out without warning by disease or accidents.
So when Jesus placed a child in their midst and tells them that when they welcome a child, they welcome him, they would have been shocked. How could Jesus equate himself on a par with a child? It would have been considered cultural suicide to go to this extreme. Yet this is how Jesus demonstrates how they are to consider themselves. If you want to be great, then you must consider yourselves as insignificant as a child.
We live in what purports to be a Christian nation. Over and over again, I hear the slogan “Make America great again!” Jesus gives us the way to become great. Greatness will be ours when we make ourselves the least and when we protect the most vulnerable among us before considering our own needs. Therein lies true greatness.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator