In my seminary back in England there was a professor of theology called Fr. Charles Acton. The only reason I bring him up is because he was the great-grandson of a certain Lord Acton, a Catholic historian, politician and writer. It was Lord Acton, who in a letter to an Anglican bishop in 1887, coined the famous saying: “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely”. It is a statement whose truth we see confirmed time and again throughout history, up to and including today. It is the reason why Jesus takes such a strong line with his disciples in our gospel today, when he discovers that they have been arguing about which one of them is the greatest. Ironically, their argument on the topic comes hard on the heels of Jesus’ own declaration that he will not be going into Jerusalem to garner praise and glory for himself, but to lay down his life in service of his fellow men.
Having restated the essence of discipleship, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all”, Jesus startles his apostles even further, by taking a child and placing him in their midst. Understand that this is not setting up a photo-op, Jesus is not doing a politician’s turn and kissing babies. The child, which meant someone under 12 in those days, i.e. before bar mitzvah, the child had no power, no rights, no influence. Children were just seen pretty much as a nuisance, just another mouth to feed, and detailed to do the most menial of tasks in the household, until they were of an age when they could go out and earn some money for their family. Remember how the apostles tried to turn the children away from bothering Jesus when their parents wanted to bring them to him for a blessing? That was pretty much the attitude of the average Jew in Jesus’ time. So why does Jesus bring this child into the circle? In order to provide a model to his disciples of what they must become like, if they are ever to understand the heart of Jesus. Jesus is telling them that he identifies with this child, precisely in being one who without power or glory or influence. Jesus is to be found, and welcomed, amongst the littlest and weakest and poorest members of society. And if his disciples, in their pride and arrogance, cannot stomach that, then they can never become a close friend of Jesus, or of his heavenly Father, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5: 5-6), writes St Peter, long after when Jesus’ lesson has finally penetrated his thick skull, which is after seeing his Lord crucified in weakness and powerlessness on the cross.
It is a lesson that somehow still fails to penetrate the skulls of many of us today, me included. We find it so difficult not to want to grab hold of power and wield it, convinced that only in this way can we achieve success in this world. Of course, we want to do so for the best of reasons, to help others, or that is what we tell ourselves. But the truth is none of us is safe with such power. unless and until they have learned to recognize and come to terms with their own personal weaknesses.
It is why James in our second reading today warns us that there are two kinds of wisdom. There is a wisdom from God, “from above” which is “pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy”. Note the words “peaceable, gentle, willing to yield” – not usually found among those who wield great power (think about the many dictators around the planet). Opposed to those qualities, says James, there is wisdom from below, human wisdom, which he describes as “earthly, unspiritual and devilish” (James 3: 15), leading to “bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts”. Which, then, produces “disorder and wickedness of every kind”. Those who exhibit wisdom from above, tend to seek to make peace “Blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called children of God” (Matthew 5: 9). Those who prize wisdom from below tend to want to make war. Which kind do you think Jesus wants his Church to be, brothers and sisters? Which kind do you think he wants you and me to be?
That is why Pope Francis continues to insist that the Church must be a Church of the “peripheries”, why he constantly urges us to go out to those on the margins, the poor, the weak, the disenfranchised. It is why, like just recently in Asia, he goes so often to those peripheries himself, to bring them the good news that they are loved by God and by his Church and showing it in action by visiting them. It is also why the bishops in South America, way back in 1970, voted to stop backing up the status quo they had enjoyed with the dictators governing most of their countries, but would become the voice of the voiceless, and would use their influence, such as they had, to push for the rights and freedoms of the poor and marginalized. It has brought them much persecution from those same dictators who used to be their friends, but it is the way of Jesus, and they have pursued that path to this day. Story of priest working in the favelas of Brazil, teaching the peasant people that they are “important to God”.