Reading Francis

Mark 10:42-45 – “So Jesus called them all together to him and said, ‘You know that those who are considered rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority. This, however, is not the way it is among you. If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.’”

It is laughably easy to point out how bad the Church is at living up to this. And by “Church” I mean just about any church in a community and nation in which Christians aren’t actively, violently persecuted. Catholics may be the most demonstrably bad at this, but even the most low-church Protestant pastor gets put up on a pedestal pretty quickly.

I think the current pope has been an exception on this. John XXIII was a little before my time, but I would point to him, too. I am fortunate to know priests and pastors who swim hard against the tide to maintain the heart of a servant. But it is an awfully strong tide, which I can’t really explain.