November 5, 2023

31ST Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Where True Honors Lie

Msgr Thomas Gervasio

For the past forty-one years, parishioners and strangers alike have addressed me as “Father.” It is our Catholic custom to address our priests as “Father” and the Pope as “Holy Father.” And yet Jesus says, "Call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven." Is our practice then a violation of Scripture? Should we then refrain from calling our parent, father? Are we wrong in using titles at all?

Here, as in other places in the Gospel, Jesus makes some extraordinary or disconcerting pronouncements: Did Our Lord really mean that we should hate our families and ourselves in order to his follower?

After all, he said, “If anyone comes to me, who does not hate his father, and mother, wife, and children, his brothers and sisters, indeed his very self, cannot be my follower.” Did Jesus really mean that we must pluck out our eyes in moments of lust? No at all! When our Lord makes such statements, he is using hyperbole. We might call it “Aramaic exaggeration" in order to make a point.

We use hyperbole as well: A parent might say to their child: “I told you clean your room a million times.” A grandparent might say to their grandchild: “When I was your age, I walked fifteen miles to school uphill in the snow.” A student often says: “I have a ton of homework.” Parishioners might say, “The deacon’s homily went on forever.” This is hyperbole.

In today’s Gospel we find that Our Lord wanted to teach the Scribes and Pharisees—and us—something important about titles and honors, about authority and leadership. He rebukes them for their inconsistency, their hypocrisy and pride.

Our Lord cautions us that we should not be fooled into thinking that outward display is enough in the spiritual life. The inclination to “show off," the craving to seek honors and attention are not in keeping with the life of a disciple.

While praise and honors may come our way, a disciple has to keep them in proper perspective. A Christian’s view of honor and greatness is quite different from the way our culture views them. “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” We must keep before our eyes, the Lord, who laid aside the garments of glory for a towel and took up a slave’s task in order to wash his disciples’ feet.

The Scriptures do not condemn ambition. We can be ambitious to do good. But a Christian’s ambition has a condition. We must be the first to serve, the first to forgive, the first to heal, the first to minister. In the Lord’s eyes, this is where true honor lies. Let us ask the Lord to give us the grace to see this clearly and to live it.

“My Lord and My God, I am far too often influenced by what others think of me. I am always pretending to be either richer, smarter, or nicer than I really am. Please prevent me from trying to attract attention. Don't let me gloat over praise on one hand or be discouraged by criticism on the other. Nor let me waste time weaving imaginary situations in which I am the most heroic, charming, witty person present. Show me how to be humble of heart, like you.” Amen.