Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092312.cfm

They quarreled among themselves as to who was the greatest.

There's something soothing
about black and white photos.

As Election Day closes in upon us, we hear this gospel about the disciples quarreling among themselves. Which of them should take Jesus’ place? It should be obvious no one can replace Jesus; and I don’t suppose any of the contenders will openly admit such ambition; but that is the subtext.

During the electoral year, as the parties quarrel over which candidate should lead, we might do well to remember certain truths. First, despite the claims and counter-claims of each party, the President has little control over the economy. Money is like water; it goes where it wants to go. We can dredge channels, put up dams and dikes, and erect storm sewers, levees, weirs and canals; but when storms and floods come they’re largely uncontrolled. They dig their own channels and throw up their own levees while people wring their hands and complain about the government.

While both major parties blame each other for the troubled economy, both of them know their arguments are hugely irrelevant. Only the electorate actually believes their president -- great man that he is -- has such power.

Secondly, democracy has yet to prove itself a better form of government than any other. David's descendants ruled in Jerusalem for six hundred years; Egyptian pharoahs for several thousand. Our two hundred and thirty six years is a good start given the awkwardness we've built into our three-branched system with a bicameral legislature.  Any government system that fears the poor enough to provide for their basic needs will do well. A government with corrupt or incompetent leaders who regard the poor with contempt will collapse.

Democracy, to its credit, seems to manage prosperity pretty well; but it doesn’t do so well with hardship. The electorate can make sacrifices only for short periods, when it believes the reward is in sight; and when it believes everyone is sharing the sacrifice equally. It sees no purpose in recessions and depressions. If the electorate, like their representatives in the stock market, are driven by greed and fear, they will admire the wealthy and despise the poor. That's never a good choice. Meanwhile, the truly wealthy and their stooges will demonstrate their contempt for the system and the electorate as they pour billions of dollars into super-PAC funds. 

Finally, we get the leadership we deserve; our leaders are no wiser and no more ethical than those who choose them. No one should pretend to be shocked by the cheating, bribery and philandering of their elected officials. As Pogo famously remarked, “We have met the enemy and they are us.”

In today's gospel Jesus gives his disciples a gentle, but unforgettable lesson in leadership.

"If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all."
Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst,
and putting his arms around it, he said to them,
"Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.""

He chose the child not because she was cute or adorable but because she was powerless. In the culture of Jesus' day, a child's opinions meant nothing. Her beliefs were what people told her. At best she was only an investment toward her parents' old age, but she would be the first to die when famine struck; and the first left behind when armies approached. Her family might certainly grieve her death but children were more easily replaced than mature adults. 

Jesus demonstrates that his leaders must protect the children first, both born and unborn. They must also protect the poor, the elderly, the disabled and despised -- everyone whom the Powers consider expendable. 

I have yet to hear a candidate of either major party say anything about the voiceless among us, especially the imprisoned. But there is still time. Christians can make a difference in this election if we speak up for the despised among us. You get the leadership you deserve.