It makes no sense to argue about who is the greatest

In today's Gospel an argument arose among the Apostles about which of them was the greatest.


Jesus, who looks into our hearts and knows what our intentions are, simply placed a child in their midst and stated that "whoever receives this child in My name receives Me and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me."

It’s almost like they don’t get it, because John starts up with another question that to me sounds like he’s competing for Jesus’ notice with everybody else. He says he has seen someone “not a follower like us” who is driving out demons in Jesus’ name, thinking that Jesus will rebuke him, but instead he replies, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:46-50)

One must never be deceived by one's status or accomplishments. That is how Satan tried to drive a wedge between Job and God. Satan failed, even though he went to such great lengths and reduced Job to a state of helplessness.

Sometimes we seem to forget this most important teaching of Jesus. We assume that if someone is not Catholic or Christian in a way that we recognize, they cannot help us or they oppose us. While this may be true in some cases, in many cases the opposite is true. Those who do not hinder us, help us in that much. Today we have so many who are ready to bring suit against us for speaking out in faith -- so many ready to take offense at our belief -- ready to tell us of our foolishness and our naïveté.

But there are a great many whose prayers join with ours. A great many people support what we do, but do not necessarily have the mission (or perhaps the courage, as it is in my case) to go out in the forefront of the battle. Nevertheless, they quietly support our efforts with their prayers.

There are others as well -- atheists and feminists who oppose the death penalty for the fetus in the womb -- perhaps unlikely companions in being a voice for the voiceless. For this service God blesses them -- and even if they do not join us in prayer outside abortion clinics, or perhaps make no public display at all -- nevertheless, they do not oppose us, and they work in their own ways to accomplish the same end.

We should not assume that Protestant, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Taoist, Hindu, or any of our brothers and sisters who do not aid us directly, necessarily oppose us. Certainly some do, but not all. And most are looking for the same thing we are.

We should strive to be supporters, not superstars. Jesus said, "For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest." Only then will we be able to do as the psalm directs, "Incline your ear to me and hear my word." If we are "arguing" about who is the greatest, we are not listening.