Who's better than you?

Good News Reflection
Monday of the 26th Week of Ordinary Time
September 27, 2010

Today's Saint: Vincent de Paul
Pray for charitable ministries:
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/VincentdePaul.htm

Today's Readings:
Job 1:6-22
Ps 17:1-3, 6-7
Luke 9:46-50
http://www.usccb.org/nab/092710.shtml
USCCB Podcast of the Readings:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/10_09_27.mp3

Who's better than you?

How easy it is to identify with the feelings of the disciples in today's Gospel reading! We want to know that we've got greatness within us, that we are not garbage, that we have important value. We all too easily feel inferior. Most of the time, we're controlled by an unmet need to feel better about ourselves. In an effort to convince ourselves that we're okay, we use words like a shrinking ray to diminish others.

This is why Jesus gave the disciples – and us – a couple of examples of how equally special everyone is to him, and why. It's based on what he preached in Matthew 25: What we do to others we do to him. In this case, the caring and acceptance that we give to a child is caring and acceptance that we give to Jesus. We are not greater than (superior to) children, for through them we encounter God, who alone is superior.

We expect children to know less than we do. Thus, when they come up with a gem of wisdom or an insight that challenges us, we dismiss them and ignore what they said with a condescending smile and "Ahhh, how cute." But that's not how Jesus treats them. That's not how Jesus wants to treat them through us.

What about adults? We expect them to believe us when we tell them what's right and what's wrong, and when they challenge us with an insight that goes against our perception of the truth, we diminish what they said so that we can protect ourselves with a feeling of superiority. We're afraid that if we're the one who's wrong, we're the one who's diminished.

But that's not how Jesus treats them. That's not how Jesus treats us.

At some point in our lives, we discovered that we could feel good about ourselves if we belonged to "the right group" – the "in" crowd, the "elite" club, the "high status" jobs, the "most respected" parish ministry. As members of Jesus' inner circle, the disciples assumed that they'd been given special privileges. When an outsider acted as if he had the same privileges, they didn't think he was equally qualified.

We all know people who don't match our idea of who's qualified, but if they're not working against God's kingdom, we'd better not do anything against them, for that's the same as being against Jesus!

Know that you are not inferior. You are no less special than anyone else. Jesus loves you as much as he loves his own mother! Once you realize this and let it heal yourwounded heart, the temptation to feel superior will disappear.

© 2010 by Terry A. Modica
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