Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of being one of the MCs at our new bishop's ordination and installation Mass. An MC is basically someone who quietly tells people where to go during a liturgy - it's a useful thing when you have a Mass like the one we had that day: there were over a hundred priests, more than 30 bishops, and even two cardinals. The fieldhouse at Franciscan University was full with over a thousand people ... and lots of people watched the event on TV and the Internet.
It was an impressive sight to see and a powerful moment for our diocese. If you were able to go, or if you watched it from home, there were a couple moments that stood out, at least for me.
The first was when Bishop Monforton laid prostrate on the floor in front of the altar while all of us in the fieldhouse sang and prayed the litany of saints, asking all of these Christians who had gone before us to be with this man - and for God to sanctify him and consecrate him for his mission.
The other moment that sticks in my mind is when our new bishop received the signs of his office. He was handed his ring, his mitre (the bishop's hat), and his crozier - symbols of fidelity and service - and then took his seat as the celebrant for the rest of the Mass and also as bishop of our diocese.
To see a ceremony like this without knowing what was going on, someone might think we are crowning a king, installing a new leader who will rule us, but it is here that we see a profound paradox at the heart of Christianity - a secret that we hear in our gospel today.
Last week, we heard Jesus ask his disciples who they thought he was. Peter responded with the correct answer: Jesus is the Christ, the messiah; but his understanding of what that meant wasn't what Jesus had in mind - for the first time in Mark's gospel, Jesus predicts his own passion ... and Peter can't accept that. He tries to change Jesus' mind and Jesus rebukes him. He teaches them that, to be his disciple, we have to take up our cross and follow him, giving everything, even our lives, for his sake.
Today we hear Jesus predict his passion and death for the second time. He says it pretty clearly: "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise."
How do the disciples not understand this?
It seems that their concept of who Jesus is doesn't include the possibility of him dying - even if he rises again. How can this be his mission? They don't even ask him to clarify, rather they get into an argument about which one of them is the greatest.
It's this that allows Jesus to explain his mission and how we are to imitate him. "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all."
That's the secret of Christianity, of following Jesus. That explains how the God of the universe could become one of his creatures and then allow himself to be killed by them. It explains how our bishop can be installed as our leader and pastor but lays down on the floor and offers himself to God for service. It's the secret of how saints throughout the ages could change the hearts of those around them simply by serving them.
We are called to serve because God came and served us.
The world tells us to help those who can help us. To only give when we will get something out of it.
But Jesus gave everything and he asks us to do the same: to help people who can't do anything for us, to give when it's inconvenient, to surrender our time and our priorities for the sake of the weak and the helpless.
Bishop Monforton became our bishop not to rule us as a king but to serve us as a shepherd, to serve us as Christ served us.
How can we do the same in our lives?
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:) :) :)
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