Job 1:6-22 / Luke 9:46-50
There are some things which we would certainly like to put on display.
Whether it is at home, or in school, or at the club-house, or even in the parish office, if we have any awards, or academic achievements, or medals, or trophies, we would certainly like to put them a special display.
In a way, all those items are mirrors. They show us how good we are and what we can do.
They are also indicators of how we fare with others, to see what we are and who we are in comparison with others.
In the gospel, the disciples were ranking themselves against each other, and that's when Jesus interjected.
The model of greatness which He gave them was a humble little child.
That was really a contradiction and a paradoxical model of what we are so used to when we talk about greatness.
Because we tend to associate greatness with power and might, and achievements and possessions.
But when these are taken away, is there anything else that we can be proud of or feel great about?
We can slowly understand a bit of what greatness is all about when Job in the 1st reading said this after all he had was taken away :
Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I shall return. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken back. Blessed be the name of the Lord.