Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Many years ago, I heard a little story that has stayed with me. A little girl came up to her daddy and asked: “Daddy, are you getting older every day?” Her father said, “Well, yes, I’m getting older every day.” Then the little girl said, “Oh, that’s too bad, I’m getting newer every day!” Ah, yes! It’s true! It’s all a matter of perspective! “Out of the mouths of babes comes wisdom.”
Our liturgical readings today give us some powerful examples of the way people’s perspectives and mindsets make a big difference. Most would look upon wisdom as a wonderful gift everyone would appreciate. But not so says the first reading from the Book of Wisdom. For those set in their ways that are often adjusted for their advantage and comfort, statements of wisdom from the prophet were upsetting and even obnoxious. This applies even today when people live by a slogan I once heard about behind the boss’s desk: “My mind is made up, don’t confuse me with the facts!” In other words, don’t ask me to move.
But the hardest mindset to move often has to do with suffering and the topic of death. Jesus is testing the perspective of his disciples when he simply informs them that he is on his way to his death. In fact He says He will be arrested, he will be executed, and in three days he will rise from the dead. This was too much. They couldn’t wrap their minds around this, so they remained silent, but in private they returned to schoolyard attitudes of competing to see who was the greatest. This might be trait for all of us. In times of doubt, we immediately step backwards and turn to our own security.
Jesus shakes them from their theoretical daydreams to the dust of humility and the reality of the absolute openness in the face of a child. Jesus is telling them: If you really want to know me as I am in my relationship with my Father you must understand the heart of a child. It is the child who has the capacity to love without limit, and the child who accepts the mystery of being totally accepted simply by being a beloved creature of God.
Reflection: Do I seek to know the Lord with the openness of a child trusting that the Lord will show me the way?
Reflection by Fr. Daniel Petsche, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections