The Little are the Greatest

26th Week in Ordinary Time - Monday; Memorial of St Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1 October 2018)

Job 1:6-22

Luke 9:46-50

“Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I shall return. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken back.”

The gospel writers never tell us whether the discussions among the disciples about who was the greatest (there were several of them) involved supporting one another for the honour, or were exercises in self-promotion. Either way, they missed the point. Worldly greatness has no place in the Kingdom of God. The little ones, the insignificant ones are the greatest in the Kingdom. As Mary proclaimed in Luke 1:52, God “has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.”

Today's first reading from the Book of Job gives the story of the just man named Job, on whom God allowed misfortune. The Book of Job is one of the high points of the Hebrew Scriptures, integration at its best. But for most of us Job is one of the most boring books of the Bible. It is because we have not been trained in non-dualistic thinking. We are so used to our dualistic or binary thinking, that we are not able to understand Job or some other Wisdom Books of our Scriptures. These books deal with mystery and complex issues that cannot be resolved, that allow no conclusion or answer, that demand trust, surrender, and deepening of our faith. In the Book of Job, God answers none of Job's questions, but rather leads him deeper into mystery.

Being little or being naked of all our attitudes is a way of living our mystery. Without rejecting any event or person, and accepting them in our lives is to accept mystery. To embrace everyone and everything is the true meaning of integration, and also perhaps integrity. To exclude anything that comes in your universe is not love. Love includes everything, including the shadows and darkness of our lives. When everything goes the way we want then it is easy to love God. But when something goes wrong, how is our love for God and others? True love is faithful even when there are difficulties, because when we allow love in us it is not I but God who works.

Therefore, making oneself humble and little inspite of all difficulties is a way to integration and mature faith. St Thérèse of the Child Jesus does this by choosing the Little Way, which is actually a way of integration and love. She finds love in all things, and chooses her vocation to be nothing but love. She exclaims with joy: "Oh Jesus, my love, I have finally found my vocation: my vocation is love. Yes, I have found my own place in the Church, and that place is the one that You have pointed out to me, My God. In the heart of the Church, who is my mother, I will be love; in this way I will be all, and my desire will be completely fulfilled."

Let us become love, the true meaning of all integration!