Who is the greatest? Who is the best? Who is the richest? Who is the fastest? We
seem obsessed with those things in the modern world. Although, I must say, as a diehard Chicago Cubs fan, I grew up knowing that
winning isn’t everything – hahaha.
(Although I will admit that it warms my heart to see my beloved Cubs
doing so well this year, having won 9 of their last 10 games at the time of
writing this homily, including winning 4 in a row from the mighty San Francisco
Giants!) Yet,
taking pride in being the best and being the greatest is not anything new, as
evidenced by the disciples asking Jesus in today’s Gospel as to who will be the
greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. His
answer – we need to humble ourselves in order to be the greatest. We need approach God with the heart of a
child.
Today, we celebrate St Claire of Assisi, a saint who was born in Italy at the
end of the 12th century. Like
her mentor and guide, St Francis of Assisi, Claire came from a very wealthy
family, giving all of that up in order to follow Christ with all of her heart
and soul. Claire founded a monastic religious order in the Franciscan tradition called
the Order of the Poor Ladies. After her
death, the Order was renamed the Order of St Claire. Today, that Order is commonly referred to as
the Poor Claires. Contrast Claire’s example with what the disciples are asking in the Gospel. We
need to have the heart of a servant in order to truly live out our faith. That
does not mean we have to settle for mediocrity or don’t have to work hard for
our Church or for our faith community. It is
not a matter of winning or losing. It is
not a matter of being the greatest or the first. It is a matter of directing our entire will
to the Kingdom of God, of making God the most important thing in our
lives. To
quote St Claire: “We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become.” To that I say: Amen.
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