“If someone wants to be first, ……”

February  21, Memorial of Saint Peter Damian, bishop and doctor of the Church
Sirach 2:1-11; Mark 9:30-37

Who on earth does not want to be the first and the best!

The disciples of Jesus were not different. They had been arguing about “who was the greatest,” or ‘who was the favourite’ of Jesus.

Recognizing that his own disciples are treading the dangerous path of competition and envy, Jesus gives them a rule: “If someone wants to be first, let him consider himself the last of all and servant of all.” Jesus sets a child in their midst as a model. Children do not compare or compete, until they are taught or shown to do so.

This is not a recommendation, but a command of Jesus to his disciples. Disciples of Jesus should compete in serving, excel in humility and rejoice in promoting one another.

Competition is nature’s way of assuring survival and progress. It is healthy if it promotes growth, but it can turn into a ‘brutal’ (animal) instinct for survival of the fittest.

Aspiring for the better and the best is not bad, until it generates envy and hatred towards the other. At that point, it becomes a sin, as in the case of Cain, who was jealous of the ‘better’ sacrifice of Abel, causing him to ruin his own life by taking that of his brother.

Often it begins with an innocent monologue, ‘oh, how good and better than others I am!’ and ‘I deserve better and more than all others.’

In everyday life we find a lot of people running the rat race to prove themselves to be better than the neighbours and relatives with a bigger house, improved food, fancier dress and ornaments, better paid jobs, more expensive cars, smarter children and often even, as banal as, better funeral!

Unfortunately, the modern education, culture and lifestyle are founded on the principle of competition and aggressive pursuit of achievement.

For reflection:
Today’s reading from Sirach 2:3-5 suggests the antidote “Accept all that happens to you, be patient when you are humbled, for as gold is tested in the fire, so those acceptable to God are tested in the crucible of humiliation.”