Fred Rogers is getting a lot of attention these days as a consequence of being portrayed by Tom Hanks in a current movie about his life. Fred Rogers is the “Mister Rogers” of “Mister Rogers Neighborhood”. The long running children’s television show. The show was one of the longest running TV shows in history, only surpassed by Sesame Street. There is a story about Rogers that goes something like this. He had his car stolen outside his studio and the story made many newspapers and radio shows. When the thieves heard it was his car, they returned the car with a note that apologized and stated that they would never have stolen the car if they knew the car belonged to him. Despite his fame, Rogers was reported to be a soft spoken and unassuming man mirroring the image he portrayed on his show.
Humility and confidence seem to go hand in hand. If you are confident in your abilities then there is little need to broadcast your prowess to the masses. It becomes enough to know your abilities AND your limits. A humble person sees themselves as merely a PART of the universe as a whole. As one of my favorite Catholic hymns states, “We are many parts. We are all one body. And the gifts we have, we are given to share”. Being truly humble, and not just self-deprecating, allows you to see yourself as one piece in the puzzle of humanity. You end up working for the good of the whole and not for yourself. We see this often in sports teams. The teams with the best players don’t always turn out to be the most successful. Often it is the group that can work together to achieve a goal that consistently attain greatness. And this requires a leader. Someone who can set the goal, lay out the proper strategies and get the unit to work together to achieve these aims. They sacrifice self for the overall good.
And isn’t this the same way humanity should function? That we are all complimentary cogs in life, working for a common goal? And what is that goal? Well, it should be to strive to follow God’s will. To get to heaven and help those around us to do the same. And who is the leader of that team? It is God himself. That is why it is critical that God permeates out lives. That we remain humble and defer to the supreme coach. So that we are on the same page and moving in the right direction together. There is a reason Jesus chose the image of the shepherd to demonstrate to us the role God should have in all our lives.
John the Baptist shows us this. He was a undeniable rock star in Judah before Jesus appeared on the scene. He had a large group of followers that hung on his every word. Multitudes came out to meet him and be baptized by him. Even though baptism was being carried out by many others as well during this time in history. But when Jesus showed up at the Jordan, John immediately pointed to Him as the long awaited one. He questioned Jesus as to why he should baptize Jesus since Jesus was the greater. And he said that Jesus should increase while he should decrease.
In the first reading today from Sirach we are introduced to the prophet, Elijah. Elijah holds a very special place in Judaism. He battled and defeated 450 pagan prophets of Baal. He raised a widow’s son from the dead. He ascended into heaven riding in a flaming chariot at the end of his days. One of three people in the bible that ascended into heaven before their actual death. The others being Enoch and, of course, Jesus. At Passover, Jews leave an empty chair and a cup of wine for Elijah at the sedar meal. He is to come heralding the Messiah and the arrival of the Messianic age.
In the Gospel today from Matthew, Jesus tells the apostles that John the Baptist is actually Elijah. The one who is to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. Jesus also tells them in Luke 7:28 that John is the greatest among those born of women. But what does John say when asked if he is Elijah? He denies it. He deflects the attention off himself and back squarely on Jesus as the one the scriptures foretell.
So where does that leave us? We are all John the Baptists. We are to point to the Messiah. Except the Messiah has already come. We are living in the Messianic age. Our job on this team, as given to us by God the coach, is to help reveal God to as many people as possible before the end of time. People often ask why individual sin should bother society. It is a personal thing. But all sin affects the whole team. An analogy I heard recently talked about us all traveling in one boat. And sin is like one person drilling a hole under their seat where they are rowing. Their comment is that “this hole should not bother anyone. After all, it is under MY seat”.
Let us remain humble, but confident, and focus on the coach that is the Lord. May we remain focused on the goal of filling up the boat with as many people as possible as we too, like Elijah, fly victoriously into the heavens when our time comes.
