Monday, 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle II

Published: September 26, 2016

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the following homily during the Catholic Extension Mission Bishops Conference at Lincolnshire Marriott Resort in Lincolnshire, Illinois on Monday, Sept. 26, 2016.

Bishop Taylor

The Gospel you just heard is right in line with the theme of this Catholic Extension Mission Bishops Conference, namely, "The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor: Do We?" And of course as we will hear during these three days, there are all kinds of poverty.

The disciples were arguing about which of them was the greatest — the opposite of spiritual poverty — and so Jesus gives us a major teaching about true greatness. He takes a child and sets him in their midst.

A child — especially in those days, but even now — has no real influence at all. He can't get us any of the things this world values: He has no power, has few if any possessions; has no prestige.

Usually no one even listens to a child. It is the other way around. A child is dependent. He needs things from us. He counts for nothing and couldn't survive without the help of others.

And so Jesus is saying, if you welcome the poor, ordinary people who have no power, few possessions and no prestige, people who count for nothing in the eyes of the world and need things done for them, you are welcoming me.

And more than that, you are welcoming God. And it is for this reason that Jesus says: "the least among you are actually the greatest," because of the access to God that serving them gives us.

In our ministry as bishops it is easy to forget this. We have to raise money to run a diocese and so there are reasons to feel like we need to cultivate the friendship of those who can do things for us, people whose power and influence can be useful to us.

And, of course, Catholic Extension does have to cultivate donors, otherwise our ministries would really suffer for lack of resources. And boy we sure are grateful to them.

But these practical concerns can't be the main focus of our ministry, nor should we confuse institutional success with true greatness. In today's Gospel, Jesus insists that true greatness lies in how we respond to the cry of the poor, and that is what this conference is about.