Sunday Gospel

Jesus washing the feet of the apostles.

Jesus summoned the Twelve and said to them,
"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served
but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." --Mark 10: 42-45

Today's gospel reading features one of the most important short passages in Western civilization.

Anyone who has lived outside the Christian world has seen its effects.

From the beginning of the Christian era, the relative modesty and attitude of service among Christian leaders was contrasted to the way with “Oriental potentates,” who lived in greater luxury, had fewer checks upon their powers, and treated their subjects with less consideration.

“Oriental potentates” here really being anyone outside the influence of the Christian teachings. No particular rap against the Orient per se.

This has led, over time, to significantly more honest and less corrupt governments, and significantly more honest and less corrupt elites and upper classes. Anyone about to succumb to the natural temptation to use high office to bully or to feather his bed had these words, at least, and the example of God himself in Christ, ringing in his ears. They had their moral force. And no other tradition has anything comparable.

These, more honest and less corrupt governments, elites, officials and ruling classes, have been the essential advantage the West has long held over the rest of the world, leading to its total dominance over the past 500 years.

Sadly, to the extent that Christianity is now “secularizing” and turning its back on tradition and Christianity, it is losing this edge and defaulting to the human norm. This is that anyone who finds themselves in a position of power sees it as an opportunity for personal aggrandizement, running roughshod over others, and personal comfort.