by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann
I was 11 years old when John F. Kennedy was elected president. I was thrilled that the first Catholic became president. Kennedy was charismatic, young, energetic, hopeful and witty.
At the same time, Pope John XXIII was the Successor of Peter. He was ancient (actually only a few years older than I am now). Pope John also had a great sense of humor. He took a bold step by convening the Second Vatican Council, gathering the bishops of the world to discern how the church could more effectively proclaim the never-changing truths of the Gospel and the creed to the modern world. The reforms of Vatican II were actually an attempt to rediscover and return to the liturgical and evangelizing practices of the early church. The Council Fathers invoked the Holy Spirit to reignite the missionary dynamism of early Christianity.
I am ashamed to admit my hubris as a young boy. My ambition was to be both pope and president. I am also amused at my youthful naivety.
This past Sunday’s Gospel reading brought these boyhood memories back. The apostles James and John, who were biological brothers, approach Jesus with this request: “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask you.” Essentially, they wanted Our Lord to write a blank check — to give them whatever they wanted without specifying their desires.
Jesus, wisely and directly, asked these young brothers: “What do you wish me to do for you?” They replied: “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” They recognized the popularity of Jesus was growing. They were convinced that he was the long-awaited Messiah. Like most of their Jewish contemporaries, they believed Israel’s Savior would not only gain Israel’s freedom from Rome, but make Jerusalem the center for all spiritual and material authority.
I am confident that Jesus must have been amused by their request. Our Lord responded: “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?” With foolish confidence, the brothers Zebedee immediately declared: “We can!” Jesus promised 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 my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the other 10 apostles find out what James and John were attempting to do, the Gospel tells us they were indignant. Jesus has a mini-rebellion among those he has chosen to be leaders of what will become the church.
Our Lord calmed the tempers of his apostles by giving them Instruction 101 on his leadership philosophy. Leadership in the church is not about lording authority over others. Jesus challenged them: “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 give his life as a ransom for many.”
On June 3, 1963, the day before my 14th birthday, Pope John XXIII died, and by Nov. 22 of the same year, President Kennedy was assassinated.
By 1970, some in the church attempted to propose a false narrative about the spirit of Vatican II. There was an effort to hijack the council and its implementation within the church. Fortunately, Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI, both participants of the council, were able to correct and counter these misinterpretations.
With Kennedy’s death, the American fantasy Camelot vanished and was replaced quickly by cynicism over: 1) the morality of the Vietnam War; 2) the painful cultural confrontation with the societal cancer of racism; and 3) the sexual revolution’s attack on morality and family. This created a ripe environment for many in my generation to reject all authority, especially the wisdom of moral norms. As a consequence, we are still living with the damage and harm that was done to marriage and family.
Fortunately, by the beginning of my junior year in college, I had lost any desire to be president or pope. I had, at least, begun to appreciate the enormous responsibilities that accompany these leadership positions. By 1970, I had become convinced that I was being called to the priesthood. By then, I had encountered Jesus and experienced his presence, particularly in the Eucharist. More than anything else, I wanted to allow the Lord to use me to bring others to know his mercy and love. I wanted others to experience the peace and joy that only friendship with Jesus could provide. Jesus did not promise his apostles a worldly kingdom or political power. Nor does Our Lord promise these to his disciples today. To follow Jesus in 33 A.D. — as well as through all the centuries since — requires taking up the cross and striving to live heroic lives of love.
Political power, military strength and wealth could not transform culture in the time of Jesus, nor can they do so now. Thank goodness our faith is not in emperors or politicians. What changed the world 2,000 years ago and can still transform culture today is Jesus Christ and his Gospel of life and love. When we encounter Jesus and experience through him our heavenly Father’s love for us and the power of the Holy Spirit alive within us, then we are never without hope, without the peace of God’s love and without the joy that results from knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ.
There are no earthly Camelots. However, God is real. His love revealed in Jesus is real. Heaven is real. The destiny of his faithful disciples to live with the angels and saints is also certain.
Catholics have an obligation to be good citizens that requires us to be well-educated and well-formed voters. We are called to choose candidates, not based on their charm, personality or conformity to cultural fads, but how closely their values correspond with Christian principles and wisdom. In the end, we must give our support to those who will work to do the greatest good for our country and world and cause the least harm.
Jesus did not grant the request of James and John to possess places of power and wealth in his kingdom. He did promise them the opportunity to drink from the cup of his love revealed on Calvary. It is the amazing, selfless love of Jesus and his disciples that transformed a pagan culture once and can do so again.
Our desire should not be for Jesus to give us the things the pagan world craves, but to do his will — drink from his cup — by being instruments of mercy and love in a world that desperately needs them.
