Presider: Fr. Dan Volkert
Parish: St. Bruno & St. Paul
TEXT FROM THE HOMILY
The gospel story that we just heard we can find that in Matthew, Mark and Luke, so it begs the question “What is it about this story that all three gospel writers felt compelled to include it in their gospel? Well, it teaches us a very important characteristic of discipleship, which is humility. Remember last week, Jesus taught the apostles and us what discipleship looks like, that we have to deny ourselves, pick up the cross and then go follow him. Well now Jesus teaches us an indispensable virtue that we must practice if we are genuine followers of Christ. And we are now noticing how the story begins. Jesus here reveals how his mission will reach its culmination on the cross. Now are the apostles concerned. Are they shaken by this news? Absolutely not. They're preoccupied with who is the greatest among them now, in some ways its comical if it wasn't so tragic. Once again, Jesus is going that way, the apostles are going that way. The apostles are more concerned about themselves now. Now they know Jesus is the messiah and the messiah will usher in a new administration just like a new president will. Well, the apostles are worried about that. Where they are going to be in the pecking order of that new administration? Are they going to be up the ladder or down the ladder? Basically, what they're doing, they're jockeying for positions of power. Friends, its a basic biblical truth. Greatness in God's eyes is not measured in power or honor or social status of this world. Greatness in God's eyes is always measured by humility and service to others. Now where is that most clearly seen in the lives of the saints? You know the saints are who they are because they dedicated their lives to serving others with a great deal of humility. Whether it was serving the poor like St. Francis, serving the sick like Mother Cabrini or serving the Native Americans and African Americans of our country like St. Catherine Drexel did. The saints were not concerned about ambition, they were not concerned about jockeying for positions of power like the apostles did. Now a common thread that is found woven through all the saint’s lives is the great virtue of humility. Humility comes from the Latin root word which is humus. Humus means ground. If we're practicing, essentially we are grounded, and who we are in relationship to God and others in this world. You know our concern is always rooted in serving the needs of God and others around us. Now what's the opposite of humility? Pride, right? What does pride do to us? It uproots us from that relationship that we have with God. A prideful person is full of ambition, they concern only about themselves and no one else in this world, they're preoccupied with where am I in that pecking order. Am I going up the ladder or am I coming down the ladder? Thomas Aquinas once said the goal for every catholic is to be a saint and we all can be. Maybe not an uppercase saint but a lowercase saint. Where does it all start for us? In the simple daily practice of humility and serving others in this world and I think that's the heart of Jesus' message for us today.
Entrance: Come To Jesus
© 2005, 2006, Joshua Blakesley and Sarah Hart. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved
Psalm 54: The Lord Upholds My Life
Text: Psalm 54:3-4, 5, 6-8. Refrain text © 1969, 1981, 1997, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Verses text © 1970, 1997, 1998, CCD. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Music © 2004, Tom Booth and Matt Maher. Published by OCP. All rights reserved.
Preparation: Drawn To You
© 2019, 2020, Sarah Hart. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved.
Communion: The Feast Meant For Everyone
© 2019, Tom Booth and Sarah Hart. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved.
Sending Forth: Hallelujah Is Our Song
© 2012, Meaux Jeaux Music, Tunes From The Basement, River Oaks Music Company, Sarah Hart, all administered at CapitolCMGPublishing.com, Fiat Music, LLC, and Josh Blakesley. Published by Spirit & Song®, a division of OCP. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Mass Setting: Mass of St. Mary Magdalene
Text © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Music © 2018, Sarah Hart. Published by OCP. All rights reserved.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this liturgy obtained from ONE LICENSE, License No. A-718591.
www.HeartoftheNation.org
