Tuesday in the 7th Week of Ordinary Time (II)
He Will Carry You

Readings: James 4:1-10; Psalms 55:7-8, 9-10a, 10b-11a, 23; Mark 9:30-37
Picture: CC teemu_fi

Imagine a young couple with twin children, perhaps 2 or 3 years old. Although born on the same date, the kids are as different as night and day. One of them is often crying and clinging to the parents. It is often stretching out its arms, begging to be carried. In contrast, the other is a cheerful child, always eager to run about by itself, even to the extent of refusing to be held. Which child do you think the parents will favor? Which one will you prefer? I suspect that many of us, myself included, will favor the more independent one. Nobody really likes a crybaby, right?

Which is why it’s important for us to pay attention to something in our readings today that is deeply surprising, even shocking and unsettling. Our readings present us with a contrast that they describe in various ways. In the first reading, the contrast is first referred to as a contrast in friendship – friendship with God versus friendship with the world. The former is associated with humility, while the latter is associated with pride. Thus far, nothing out of the ordinary. But then the reading goes on to say that to be a friend of God is to be miserable instead of laughing, because of one’s wretched condition. So the surprise begins. But the message still seems a little too abstract. It’s still not very clear what these two friendships might look like. The gospel helps by further illustrating the contrast. And, in the process, it deepens our surprise.

The contrast in friendship referred to in the first reading is illustrated by the speech and conduct of Jesus and the disciples, respectively. Jesus walks humbly, obediently, to his Passion. He is entrusting his life into the hands of his Father. And he shares with his disciples what he expects will happen to him. He will be arrested, put to death, and raised to life on the third day. The disciples fail to understand. And neither do they bring their confusion to the Lord. Instead, they argue about which of them is the greatest. Jesus responds by placing a child in their midst. And the gospel is careful to tell us that he also puts his arms round the child. What is the lesson being taught?

Commentators tell us that it isn’t really the innocence of the child that is being highlighted. As those who have spent much time with them will probably testify, children can be devious too. What Jesus is drawing attention to is instead the powerlessness of the child. The child needs to be cared for. To welcome a child in the Lord’s name is to imitate him in entrusting one’s life to the Father, even to the extend of being willing to walk to Calvary, clinging to the hope of being raised on the third day. This is what being a friend of God is like. In contrast to the world’s incessant quest for self-sufficiency and independence, the friend of God is humble enough to acknowledge dependence. S/he is willing to beg to be carried. And the good news is, that God delights in putting his arms around us and lifting us up. Entrust your cares to the Lord and he will support you…

That this kind of friendship with God doesn’t come too easily to us is evident in the ministry of spiritual direction. Often people come and speak as though everything in their lives is under control. But as the conversation continues, the struggles begin to surface, very real struggles. Tears may begin to flow. And if the director asks how much of these struggles have been brought to God in prayer, there is sometimes a rather surprised look on the person’s face. It’s as though we think that we have first to get our act together, to learn to walk on our own, before we can approach God. Nobody likes a crybaby, right? But what if to be a friend of God is precisely to be willing to lay bare our struggles before him, to beg him to carry us in his arms? Indeed, what if, on his part, God is desperately waiting for the opportunity to lift us up? Entrust your cares to the Lord and he will support you…

How does our heavenly Father desire to put his arms around you today?