A Far Better Thing

Giving without expecting any return

Mark 10:35-45

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?" They answered him, "Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left." Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism  with which I am baptized?"  They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared." When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them,

 "You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

          Have you ever done anything that was absolutely altruistic; that is, have you done something for another person without getting anything in return for yourself? We do lots of things for others, especially for the poor, but we usually get something back, like a tax-deduction! So, that’s not completely altruistic. Or, when we help our own school or our own parish, we have the satisfaction of seeing the fruits of our sacrifices every Sunday. A few years ago, I ran four marathons to raise money for St. Joseph School, and what am I going to get in return? Two knee replacement surgeries! That’s altruistic, right?? But a friend pointed out that much of my marathoning was also about my ego, that is, my pride, to say I did it. And being able to mention it in a sermon someday like today!

          Would you turn and look at the walls of our beautiful church for a moment and notice the stained-glass windows? At the bottom of each one is an inscription of who donated each window. Those stained-glass windows were installed in 1901, over 100 years ago by people you’ve never heard of; which means they made sacrifices for people they had never heard of, namely, YOU! You see, that’s my definition of altruism: when you help someone who has no way to pay you back. Indeed, those names helped people who weren’t even born yet. You see, true altruism means you get nothing in return.

          In the gospel today, Jesus tries to help his disciples to be a little more altruistic and a little less egotistical like me. James and John ask Jesus the favor of sitting one on his right and the other on his left. The other ten apostles get angry with them. But notice they are not angry because James and John are selfish, but rather because the other ten wished they had asked Jesus first for those two spots! In other words, all 12 apostles were equally ambitious and arrogant. But Jesus says, “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” Of course, Jesus himself would be the perfect example of such a servant. Like the benefactors who donated the windows of Immaculate Conception Church, so Jesus gives us a gift we can never repay. Scott Hahn put it eloquently when he said: “Jesus paid a debt he didn’t owe, because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay.” That’s true altruism.

           Now, you’d hope that going to confession would cure selfishness and inspire altruism, but not necessarily. One day a man walks into confession and says, “Father, forgive me because I’ve stolen some lumber.” The priest admonishes him and tells him to pray 3 Hail Mary’s. The next Saturday the man returns to confession and says, “Father, forgive me I’ve stolen several bags of nails.” The priest recognizes that man’s voice and says, “Look, you really need to stop stealing,” and gives him 5 Our Fathers. The following Saturday the man returns again and says, he stole a hammer and saw. The priest says, “Okay, look, you’ve really got a problem. For your penance, I want you to make a novena.” The man answers, “Father, I don’t know what a novena is, but if you’ve got the plans, I’ve got the lumber!” It’s not easy to be altruistic, even when we sincerely try.

          This weekend we all have an opportunity to be a little more altruistic by supporting the Roses from Heaven Campaign for St. Theresa School. As you know, I’ve written a second book and recorded an audiobook of homilies. But let me be clear about something: NONE of the proceeds from those products will go to Immaculate Conception Church or to Immaculate Conception School or to Trinity Junior High, or to my retirement plan! All of it, every single penny, will go to a school that many of you have never heard of and to students most of you will never meet. But you have met at least one graduate of that school, and he’s talking to you right now. Like many urban Catholic schools, St. Theresa’s has experienced a demographic shift, where more middle and low-income families cannot afford the tuition. This campaign hopes to raise $350,000 to help underwrite the school for five years, so they can set up a long-range strategy for the school’s future. But I’m asking you not to just buy books and audiobooks, but to make a donation as well.  Why? Because when you receive nothing in return for what you give, you do a truly altruistic act. You have become like Jesus, a servant and a slave; you have become like those names on the stained-glass windows of our church.

          Let me conclude with one of the most altruistic acts in all literature, namely, the sacrifice of Sydney Carton at the end of Charles Dickens’ novel, “A Tale of Two Cities.” The setting is the French Revolution and Sydney, who had been a drunk, selfish lawyer all his life, takes the place of a man headed to the guillotine and his beheaded instead of him. That man happens to be the husband of the woman that Sydney loves deeply. Before his execution Sydney says these immortal lines: “It’s a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known.” That “far better thing” was the only unselfish act Sydney Carton ever did. You see, altruism is when you lay down your life for the husband of the woman you love.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!