20 September 2015 Shirley

"Being the last of all and the servant of all"

Bible readings for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B): James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a(NRSV); Mark 9:30-37

Over the years the Troubles in Ireland have been attributed to disputes between Roman Catholics and Protestants, even when matters of faith do not seem to have been the point of dispute. More recently there slowly appears to have been progress towards living more in peace. In Italy, Pope Francis has recently asked for forgiveness for the ways in which the Roman Catholic Church has treated the Waldensians for over eight centuries. In British history, Catholics and Protestants have brutally executed each other in order to uphold their own understanding of faith. More recently we have perhaps come to see that whereas killing people for an understanding of faith is always wrong, being prepared to die for it provides a powerful witness; and we might therefore find common cause with our former 'enemies'  in a shared experience and understanding of martyrdom. Why is it that people of Christian (and other faith) are able to profess a God of love, mercy, peace and unity, and still separate themselves from others, and treat them viciously and cruelly? It is an expression of the human condition which we all share (what we might call original sin). Yet if we open ourselves to the love of God shown in Christ, God is able to start to transform the mess of our lives. We may then start to become more like the little child of whom Jesus spoke, acting as the last and the servant of all. if we start to live in that way, we shall have something to offer the fractured world.