By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily during a trilingual Mass July 23 at St. James Parish in North Miami, which is marking its 65th anniversary. The feast of St. James is July 25.
What do you wish? What do you want me to do for you? Que quieren que yo haga por Ustedes? Ki sa nou vle pou m fè pou nou?
This is the question that Jesus asked the mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John. As we celebrate the feast day of this parish’s patron saint – and its 65th birthday – this is an important question for each one of us to consider – because, if we don’t, we might end up following Jesus for the wrong reasons.
Remember how after he had fed the crowds with the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes, Jesus rebukes them not for following him but for following him for the wrong reasons. (cf. John 16)
And people, then as now, often do seek Christ for the wrong reasons. I recall how one time one of my parishioners asked me to pray over her; she wanted the Holy Spirit to cure her headache. I told her that if she wanted to get rid of the headache, better to take a Tylenol. Jesus doesn’t give you the Holy Spirit to take away headaches – but to make you his witness. And sometimes being his witness – especially in a world that seems to be increasingly hostile to Gospel values – will give you a headache.
Ki sa nou vle pou m fè pou nou? Kesyon sa mande chita – paske se kesyon Jezi te poze manman pitit Zebede yo. Menm jan Jezi te repwoche foul la apre li te bay yo manje, l ap repwoche manman pitit Zebede yo – pa paske yo te vle suiv li, men paske y ap swiv pou yon move rezon. Foul la ap swiv Jezu pou cheche manje pou piyay, epi Jak ak frè li, Jan, ap swiv Jezi – dapre sa manman te mande Jezi – paske yo te vle parèt, yo te vle gen pouvwa.
Tankou yon fwa, m sonje yon fidèl te mande m: lapriyè sou tèt mwen pou Lespri Sen an geri tèt fè mal mwen. Mwen te di l – si w gen tèt fè mal, pito pran yon tilenol, paske Jezi pa bay Lespri Sen an pou kite tèt fè mal nou yo; li ban Lespri Sen an pou ban nou tèt fè mal.
La pregunta que hace Jesús a la madre de Santiago tiene toda su importancia. “Qué quieres que yo haga por ti?” San Agustín – en el Siglo IV – comentó: “Cuántos buscan a Jesús sin ningún otro motivo que el que haga bien para ellos en su vida actual. Casi nadie que busca a Jesús lo busca sólo por ser Jesús.” Construir nuestra fe en Jesús sobre la promesa de la prosperidad es construir sobre arena. Ya que la fe, la fe en Jesús, debe ser en Jesús crucificado. No se puede remover la cruz de su mensaje. Si nos dejamos llevar por este falso evangelio de “salud, riqueza y prosperidad” entonces inevitablemente esto nos llevará a una crisis de fe cuando la cruz se inmiscuya en nuestra vida. Y la cruz se inmiscuirá en nuestra vida – ya sea por medio de una enfermedad, de un negocio fallido o de una crisis familiar.
After the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, the crowds followed for free food. For James and John – at least in the beginning – it was for status and power. What are we looking for from Jesus?
Lots of people do look for tangible results for their having put their faith in Jesus. We see this often in the attitude of the adherents of the “prosperity gospel” preached by some of the T.V. evangelists. The trappings of wealth are seen as a sign of God’s blessings. This “health, wealth and prosperity” gospel is in fact a heresy – a false teaching – which distorts the true Gospel message. But it has been a perennial temptation. St. Augustine – in the fourth century – remarked: “How many seek Jesus for no other purpose than that he may do good for them in this present life. Scarcely ever is Jesus sought for Jesus’ sake.”
To build one’s faith in Jesus on the promise of prosperity is to build on sand. For faith in Jesus must be a faith in Jesus crucified. You cannot remove the cross from his message. In the 1970s, in many of our parish churches, the crucifix was removed from its position of prominence in their liturgical décor. An image of the crucified Jesus was often replaced by a “happier” Jesus; that is, with an image of the Risen Jesus.
Of course, the desire to give emphasis to the Resurrection, which is the basis of our faith, is certainly legitimate. But one could ask if there was not also an attempt to accommodate to the self-indulgence of our culture by downplaying the “hard sayings” of the Gospel.
If we buy into this “health, wealth and prosperity” gospel, then inevitably we will undergo a crisis of faith when the cross intrudes into our lives. And the cross will intrude – whether through sickness, business failure or family crisis.
God’s work was accomplished by Jesus – through the Way of his Passion, Death and Resurrection. It is a work that calls forth from us – as it did from the sons of Zebedee – a great act of faith. This act of faith is expressed through our own giving of ourselves, our self-offering to the one sent from God, Jesus the Christ, not for the good he might do for us in this present life but, as St. Augustine said, for his own sake. If we can put the words Christian and ambition together it should only be to describe the Christian's ambition to serve.
Solo debemos unir la palabra “ambición” con la palabra “cristiano” cuando “ambición” describe el deseo de cristiano para servir. Como Santiago aprendió – y lo aprendió de verdad, pues murió un mártir – el seguimiento del cristiano a Jesús no se define por el amor del poder; al contrario, se trata del poder del amor.
Manman pitit Zebede yo te vle prestij ak pouvwa pou pitit li yo. Y a chache laglwa – men, dapre lide lezòm, pa dapre lide Bondye. Jan Jezi ekplike yo – y ap jwenn laglwa – men, pou Jezi wout laglwa pase pa chemen lakwa. Nou pa dwe mache deyè Jezi poutèt sa nou konprann li ka ban nou nan lavi sa a. Paske lè sa a, lafwa nou bati sou sab: lè nou kontre lakwa sou chemen nou –lafwa n ap tonbe nan kriz. Epi, pa gen mwayen pou nou evite lakwa pandan n ap mache sou tè mizè sa.
Jezi pa vle pou nou renmen pouvwa; men pou nou konprann pouvwa renmen. Se sa, Jak rive konprann. Malgre li komanse mal, li fini byen. Li mouri mati, epi Jodi a n ap fete kom yon zanmi Bondye. Lavi li ak lanmò li se yon temwayaj sou pouvwa renmen.
Konsa, ki sa nou vle Jezi fè pou nou? Eske n ap mande l pou riches, pou pouvwa ak prestij? Pito nou mande l pou li ban n limyè lafwa, pito nou mande l pou l padonnen peche n yo; pito nou mande l pouo li ban n fòs ak kouraj Lespri Sen an pou nou ka toujou mache avè l kom zanmi l.
“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asks. Do we ask for wealth, riches or power? The witness of our lives will certainly grow in credibility if we learn as James did – for his life was crowned with martyrdom – that following Jesus is not about the love of power but the power of love. What do we want Jesus to do for us? Let us ask the Lord for the light of faith, the forgiveness of our sins, and the strength of his Holy Spirit so that we may always walk with him as his friend.
