GREATNESS
(A biblical reflection on the 5th Sunday of Easter [Year C] – 28th of April 2013)
First Reading: Acts 14:21-27; Psalms: Ps 145:8-13; Second Reading: Rev 21:1-5; Gospel Reading: Jn 13:31-35
In Shakespeare’s play, Twelfth Night, there is a famous line that reads: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.”
As we look around we see how true this is. Some are born great, at financially, because their parents are very rich. We think of Henry Clay Ford or Nelson Rockefeller, for example. Some achieve greatness because of what they accomplished with a lot of effort. Luciano Pavarotti and Beverly Sills come to mind here. And some have greatness thrust upon them because they reacted heroically or nobly in certain situations. St. Maximilian Kolbe and Anne Frank are examples.
If we look into today’s readings we see again how true Shakespeare’ words are. In the first reading from Acts, the apostles Paul and Barnabas establish a principle for achieving Christian greatness: “We have to experience many hardships before we enter the Kingdom of God.” In the Gospel, greatness is translated into the word glory: “Now has the Son of Man been glorified, and in Him God has been glorified.” The meaning of this hour of glory or greatness is unmistakable. The scene is the Last Supper. The betrayer Judas has just left the upper room. Our Lord’s passion and death are about to begin.
How can Jesus call the hour of His death the hour of His glory? In the same way we designate any hour of crisis or challenge as an hour of glory.
In sports we recognize certain athletes as superstars because they perform their best when the pressure is the greatest. We think of Kirk Gibson hitting a home run to win the 1984 World Series of the Tigers, or of Jack Nicklaus charging from behind to win the Master’ Golf Tournament in 1986.
In the field of skilled professions, the surgeons and lawyers who have great reputation are the ones who take on the greatest challenges in the operating room or in the courtroom and who excel in the process.
In times of war, we honor as heroes and heroines the men and women who make the supreme sacrifice for their country by dying for it.
So it is not surprising to see Jesus approaching His hour of death as the supreme hour that will give the greatest glory to His Father and that will glorify the Son forever.
Too often we look on our trials and challenges as something to avoid and run away from at all costs. How mistaken we are, because these are opportunities to achieve greatness. This is not to say that we should go running around looking for troubles and crises. But when they do come to us, we should view them as potential hours of glory.
Psychologists tell us that crises and challenges are times either for breakdowns or breakthroughs with respect to growth in maturity – and, we might add, with respect to growth in spirituality.
In other words, when a crisis occurs in our marriage or work, or in our studies or health, we can, on the one hand, break down under the pressure by damaging a relationship, copping out job, giving up in our studies or indulging in self-pity.
Or we can, on the other hand, break through the challenge by deepening a relationship, conquering the task, persevering in our studies or coping with our health problems.
True greatness is not measured by how much fame we attain, by how we react to crises and challenges the way Jesus did – by seeing them as hours of glory and as opportunities for growth.
Note: Taken from Fr. Albert Cylwicki CSB, HIS WORD RESOUNDS, Makati, Philippines: St. Paul Publications, 1988, pages 233-234.