Sunday 31 A – 2023
Mal 1 :14b-2 :1b.8-10
1 Th 2:7b-9.13
Mt 23:1-12
“Call no one your father on earth… neither be called masters…” At first sight, Jesus’ orders are not obeyed in the Church. In a monastic community, for instance, you find a master of ceremonies, a master of novices, a choir master, a few reverend fathers, a very reverend father prior and a right reverend father abbot.
All will agree, I suppose, that, to a certain extent, titles are necessary in any organisation. They express the role you have and the place which is yours in the hierarchy. But titles are not names. Titles relate to functions. Names design persons. In the end, only persons matter.
“You are all brethren”. When a monk signs his name, the only title he uses before the name is precisely “brother”. Brother is a Christian title. In Christ, we are all brothers and sisters, all children of the one Father in heaven whom those we call “fathers” represent, but do not identify with. ‘Brother’ or ‘Sister’ expresses our common Christian dignity received at our Baptism.
In the Church, all enjoy the same high dignity, for all belong to the messianic people of God which the Council Vatican II describes at great length.
That messianic people has Christ for its head […]. The state of this people is that of the dignity and freedom of the sons of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in His temple. Its law is the new commandment to love as Christ loved us.(92) Its end is the kingdom of God. (Lumen Gentium n.9)
Therefore, the chosen People of God is one: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism”(192); sharing a common dignity as members from their regeneration in Christ, having the same filial grace and the same vocation to perfection; possessing in common one salvation, one hope and one undivided charity. There is, therefore, in Christ and in the Church no inequality on the basis of race or nationality, social condition or sex, because “there is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all ‘one’ in Christ Jesus”.(193) And if by the will of Christ some are made teachers, pastors and dispensers of mysteries on behalf of others, yet all share a true equality with regard to the dignity and to the activity common to all the faithful for the building up of the Body of Christ. (Lumen Gentium, n. 32)
Our common dignity expresses itself in the titles we all have in common: Priest, Prophet, and King. At the same time, when asked for our title and our place, our answer should be very straightforward: “My place is the last one; I consider myself as the servant of all.” “The greatest among you shall be your servant”. Servant is another great Christian title. Since Pope Gregory the Great, at the beginning of the seventh Century, the Bishop of Rome receives the title of “Servant of the servants of God”. He is called Pope, for he represents the one Father; but also Servant, following the example of Jesus, the Son of God whom “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:7).
In the Church, to serve is to reign. Jesus reigns over us when He takes the very last place. During the last supper, as a humble servant and indeed as a slave, “he rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded” (Jn 13.4-5). Christ is the Servant of the Lord. He thus reveals to us the true face of our God: “Blessed are the servants whom the master finds awake when He comes; truly, I say to you, He will gird Himself and have them sit at table, and He will come and serve them” (Lk 11:37).
We know all too well the danger we are in when a great title is bestowed on us. We know all too well, too, how difficult it is to consider ourselves the last of all and the servant of all, and to act consequently. This is why we listen to Jesus, and we look at Jesus, our one Master. We also look at Mary who, raised up by God’s grace to the dignity of being the Mother of God, humbled herself and declared herself the “handmaid of the Lord”. Dear Brothers and Sisters, it is by serving the dignity of our brethren that we shall discover the depths of our own divine dignity and identity. We shall learn humility, which is the divine art of love, an art God alone teaches us through His Holy Spirit. Amen.