Let Us Put the Just One to the Test: Reflections on the Readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B)

This week we continue looking at prophecies of Jesus’s suffering and death, this time from the Book of Wisdom. Jesus is the just one who reproaches those defying the law and so is persecuted by those transgressors of the law. Like the pharisees whom Jesus regularly criticized, they plot his death. “Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, and they consulted together to arrest Jesus by treachery and put him to death” (Matthew 26:3-4, see also Mark 14:1, John 5:18, 7:19, 8:37, 40).

As Bishop Sheen once said, “The wicked fear the good, because the good are a constant reproach to their consciences. The ungodly like religion in the same way that they like lions, either dead or behind bars; they fear religion when it breaks loose and begins to challenge their consciences.” The persecutors say, “For if the just one be the son of God, God will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes.” Isn’t this somewhat reminiscent of those taunting Jesus on the Cross, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. So he is the king of Israel! Let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now if he wants him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” (Matthew 27:42-43; Mark 15:32)

The Responsorial Psalm reflects this attack by “haughty men” who rise up against the righteous. The righteous one here is again Jesus. Like the attacks we see today on the innocent and the righteous in our secular world they are Godless: “they set not God before their eyes.” These haughty men are jealous, ambitious, and selfish. But we recognize the fallacy of this way of thinking, “The Lord upholds my life.” Jesus trusts in the Father and maintains his righteousness. He willingly offers himself as sacrifice. Sacrifice is an act of love. And so we must maintain our righteousness with the help of the Lord, loving him and trusting in him.

James tells us what happens when we are jealous and selfish. We see it in today’s world, “there is disorder and every foul practice,” covetousness, murder, and envy. Appropriate thoughts as we enter into election season. God and love of God brings order not chaos. Rather than look to guidance from the Church and Scripture, we let ourselves be ruled by our passions and so gain nothing, especially where our spiritual well-being is concerned. We don’t understand that external peace begins with internal peace which requires us to be at peace with God. Instead of praying for what will truly benefit us, “You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” Consider your prayer life. Do your prayers give praise and thanks to God for what he has already given you? As the Responsorial noted, “I will praise your name, O LORD” and “the Lord sustains my life.” Prayer helps you to submit yourself to God’s will, like Jesus in Gethsemane.

In the Gospel, like the first reading, Jesus is telling his disciples about his coming trial, persecution, death, and resurrection. Instead of concentrating on this unpleasant prospect they are squabbling among themselves over their relative ranking in the group – which among them was the greatest – worldly things. Jesus gives them (and us) a lesson in humility. “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” And what better example of humility than an innocent child? “Taking a child, he placed it in their midst.” Like the passage of James that come immediately after this week’s readings, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

Jesus sets the example and gives his disciples a challenge. Like Jesus, we must willingly give ourselves to God and to others. Humility is the key. A child is humble, the letter of James tells us to be humble, we must trust in God who sustains us. “God sees that we need to learn humility. And God can work with the humble who trust him; he can’t work with the proud who won’t.” Dr. Peter Kreeft, Food for the Soul, Cycle C.

The wicked are caught up in themselves and their own desires and so seek to attack the just one. The same is true in today’s society. This is why the Church is under attack.

Bishop Sheen noted that evil must be confronted. He also said, “The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.”

“The laity must have the humility to acknowledge the limits of their activity and, at the same time, to act as though everything depended on God’s truth.” Cdl. Raymond Burke, Hope for the World, p.121.