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Riding
Third-Class
October
22, 2006 Homily
Mark
10:42-45
Fr.
George Smiga
In
the days of the Old West long journeys were often accomplished
by stagecoach. Much like traveling today, those who secured
the use of a stagecoach could buy different levels of tickets.
They could travel first class, or second class, or third class.
But unlike traveling today, those levels of tickets did not
indicate a different level of comfort, for all the people
traveled in the same crowded and dusty coach together. The
levels of tickets indicated instead different levels of responsibility.
It was impossible for the stagecoach to bring along a maintenance
group or support staff. Therefore, if there were some problem,
if a wheel broke or the coach got stuck in the mud, it was
up to the people who were on the coach to resolve it. Here
is where the level of tickets came in. If you had a first-class
ticket you could remain seated in the coach as other people
dealt with the problem. If you had a second-class ticket you
had to leave your seat to lighten the coach, but you still
did not need to contribute any personal effort. If, however,
you had a third-class ticket not only did you need to leave
your seat but you had to remove your coat, plant your feet
in the mud, and push to get the coach out of the ditch. Those
who had third-class tickets had to get involved. They could
not stand back. They could not watch as others did the work.
In
today's gospel, Jesus tells us that those of us who wish to
travel with him all travel on third-class tickets. Those who
wish to be his disciples are expected to become involved.
When there is some problem in the movement of the Kingdom,
those who are riding along cannot sit back and watch. Jesus
says, “Whoever wishes to be great, must become the servant.
Whoever wishes to be considered first, must become the servant
of all.” Now clearly you and I know this commandment. We understand
that following Jesus involves service, and I think all of
us do serve. We serve in our families. We serve by going out
of our way to help our friends. We serve by getting involved
in different ways in our community. So I suppose we could
approach this command of Jesus with the attitude, “We have
heard and followed that command already.” In a certain sense
we have. But I suggest to you that the command of Christ goes
deeper than we regularly consider it to go. I think when Jesus
says, “We must become the servant of all.” He intends that
we take that command literally. Christians are called to serve
not only those who are close to us; not only those who we
like; not only those who we are comfortable serving; but,
indeed, anyone who is in need. Whenever we discern some problem
of power and justice in our world, we are not free to say,
“That's not my problem.” The journey that we are on with Jesus
involves the entire world and everyone in it. Therefore, the
problems and the issues of our world are our problems.
Today
as we celebrate the Feast of St. Noel, it is obvious that
St. Noel possessed that attitude. His willingness to leave
the comforts of his own country and to spend his life working
in the new world among the Indians in this area is a sign
that he did not limit his responsibility to only what was
familiar and convenient.
Now
of course, we cannot do everything. Anyone of us has only
so much energy, so much talent. Therefore, each one of us
has to judge carefully what kind of service matches our resources
and abilities. But what a Christian cannot say a priori
, out of the box, is “This need is not my responsibility.”
Christians must always be willing to consider in any real
need, whether there is anything that they can do? Perhaps
Christ is calling us to make a phone call to Aunt Louise (with
whom we always had a very close relationship) to encourage
her to reconcile with her sister. Perhaps Christ is calling
us to reach out in support to someone at school or work that
other people shun. Perhaps Christ is calling us as a person
who has the time and the ability to help teach a child to
read or to make some small step in addressing the problem
of world hunger.
The
needs of course are vast and each one of us has to personally
consider whether any of those needs are needs that we can
meet. But no follower of Christ should say immediately, “That
need is no concern to me.” All of us who follow Christ are
riding with third-class tickets, and the coach that we are
riding in is all of creation and everything in it. So whenever
we encounter some form of injustice or prejudice or poverty
or hatred or violence, it is not our place to sit back and
ask what other people are going to do. It is our role to get
out of the coach and push.
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