THE WORD
Zec 8: 1–8 / Lk 9: 46–50
An argument arouse among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives he one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”
Then John said in reply, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”
IN OTHER WORDS
Today is the feast of St. Lorenzo Ruiz. Among the six martyrs from the Philippines who went to Nagasaki, perhaps we can say that Lorenzo was the “least” in human terms. Pope John Paul II himself who canonized them referred to Lorenzo as the “most improbable of saints.” Three were Dominican priests, brave European missionaries; one was a Japanese priest; and one was a layman whose identity we don’t know much of. Lorenzo, on the other hand, was an altar boy, a sacristan, and later a calligrapher. He was accused of murder, fled the country for his life and sought asylum from the priests. He preferred to go with the Fathers to Japan afraid of being hanged if he dropped in Formosa. If we stop his biography at this point we see him as a very unfortunate man. If we go further we will see that Lorenzo had to face another big misfortune. They landed on a place hostile to Christians. All six of them were tortured and Lorenzo was among the first to die. But before his last breath God gave him the grace of courage never to renounce his Christian faith. Had he thousands of lives, he said, he would give them all for God. His testimony turned all the chains of humiliating “bad lucks” into a supreme everlasting blessing. Lorenzo Ruiz became the first canonized Filipino Saint! Really true are the words of Jesus saying: “For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”
Our former General Superior once said that misfortune begins as we start comparing ourselves with others. Who is the greatest? Who is the least? Comparison breeds dissatisfaction of oneself and jealousy of others. But the desire to be better than the others, if not the best, is so natural that even the disciples were arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. Jesus taught them what constitutes true greatness: humility. Another weakness of the disciples motivated by the same pride was the spirit of exclusivity. Christianity opens, not closes, the door to everybody.
- Xene Sanchez, SVD (Congo)
The Word in other words 2015
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
