Step Aside for God

Summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily from September 25, 2005
Ministries Fair Weekend

"Amen, I say to you (chief priests and elders), tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you."

TWO MEN WERE IN LINE at the pearly gates. They were talking about their careers down below. One was a New York City taxi driver the other was a Monsignor who had served in Potomac. Peter checked his book and showed the first to a McMansion, a seven-story townhouse. The Monsignor he left off at a one-bedroom apartment. Echoing today's first reading, the Monsignor thought to himself, "The Lord's way is not fair, there must be a mistake." He went to Peter to ask him to reassess the decision. He protested, "You gave that guy ahead of me a mansion, and offered me an apartment. He was just a taxi driver, while I have preached and administered the sacraments for forty years." Peter took him by the hand explaining, "Here in the Kingdom we judge by results. You preached for forty years and while you preached the people slept. Every time this man drove his taxi the people prayed."

Today's gospel carries a similar message: the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the Kingdom ahead of the chief priests and the elders. While the former were busy professing the word of God, the latter were obeying it. The clergy can be guilty of pride and righteousness, which blind them to the mission. The vulnerable have hearts open to the word.

Within our church we can have no elites.

Today we have a chance to put this belief into practice. Our Ministries Fair calls all to the work of service. The parish is not directed by a privileged few: clergy, religious, staff and specially trained laity. Every baptized member has a gift to offer, a grano de trigo, their own grain of wheat to contribute. To ensure that all of God's people have a place in the choir, those of us in positions of leadership need to heed the second reading.

'Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather he emptied himself..." To make space for others to share their talents, we need to move aside. This requires humility.