Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
St. Paul, in our second reading, talks about such rivalries, not concerning super heroes, but about leaders in the early Church. Some were on “Team Paul,” others on “Team Apollos” (an early preacher who didn’t have the full Gospel at first, but then came to learn about it from other disciples), or “Team Cephas,” (St. Peter’s Aramaic name). You can just imagine the smarty-pants who, after hearing discussions about belonging to Paul or Apollos or Peter, said, “Well, I belong to Christ.”
The draw to individuals is likely based in natural affinities to certain personality types. Others can draw us by their charisma, or the way they present themselves, and we end up liking what they like, and feeling a sort of belonging to them.
And when it stays at a surface level, then that draw to particular personalities does not need to be problematic. But, when that draw to a church personality starts to divide us against each other and make us exclusive, then it becomes a problem. Because, as St. Paul said, Christ is not divided, and no one else saves us except Christ, not even the greatest leaders of the faith.
To have the mind of Christ, we would do well to remember that Christ called diverse apostles and disciples. We heard about Jesus calling the a few of the Apostles today as Simon Peter and Andrew were called, and then James and John. While Jesus called two sets of brothers, anyone who has raised two or more boys can tell you that, while there are similarities, there are also numerous differences between brothers. I’m sure Peter and Andrew were, in some ways, very different people, just like James and John were, in some ways, very different people. And yet, Christ called them all. He called them to conversion, to be the best that they could be, but He called different types of personalities to follow Him.
It is so easy in the Church, even today, to pledge our allegiance to this or that group, to this or that ecclesiastic personality. Again, to the extent that this priest or bishop draws us to Christ: praise God. To the extent that we seek to divide and exclude those who don’t follow this or that priest or bishop, then we need to repent. Sometimes priests and bishops don’t help things. I don’t know a priest or bishop who begins by seeking fame and celebrity, but once attained, those things can draw one away from the humility that is required if one wants to serve Jesus, rather than one’s self. How do you know someone has become too concerned with his celebrity? How does that person react when a superior starts poking holes in that status, or curtails speaking gigs and event? That says a lot.
But it’s not just about priests and bishops. The lay faithful, that is, you, sometimes also make it difficult for a unified Body of Christ approach, rather than a tribal approach to living the Gospel. How often do people attend a parish because of this or that priest, or pass by a parish because of this or that priest. Now, certainly, you have a right to hear the Gospel proclaimed, and not some dribble that is a priest’s personal soapbox or agenda. You have a right to the celebration of the liturgy as the Church gives it, not as some priest decides that he wants to add words, or dancing, or his own form of celebration.
But how often is the refrain, “I don’t like that priest,” heard among Christ’s faithful? When one of my uncles, as a child, complained to my grandfather (God rest his soul) that he didn’t like his teacher, my grandfather told my uncle he didn’t have to marry her, but he did have to respect her and behave in class, and do his best to learn. You may not like a particular priest. But as long as that priest preaches the Gospel (not his gospel), then we shouldn’t seek to divide the Body of Christ by putting this or that priest down, or giving our allegiance to a priest or bishop, rather than to God.
I would also say that a good priest, while preaching the Gospel, should make us take serious stock of our souls, at least from time to time. If a priest is only preaching the things we want to hear, then he’s not really preaching the Gospel. Jesus called all to conversion. It was the Pharisees who only wanted to hear how good they were. And that is not a good group with which to be associated.
Affinities naturally arise. We rely on others to help bring us to Christ, because faith is never a purely private affair. But we are part of Christ’s Church, and we have been called to be faithful to Him, not to any apostle or disciple. Stay in that Church, no matter what priest comes or what happens to a parish, and so be a part of the diverse crowd that Jesus calls to become fishers of men.
