SPECIAL EDITION ARTICLE #8 - February 27th, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

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One Thing, Jesus Christ.
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SPECIAL EDITION ARTICLE #8 - February 27th, 2023 by Fr. Ben Daghir

Editor’s Note: Fr. Ben Daghir had the unique opportunity of celebrating Mass for the seminarians at St. Mark's Seminary in Erie on February 21, 2023. This article is a summary of his homily to the seminarians. The Gospel reading for that day was Mark 9:30-37. 

Article: 
Notice that the Apostles “had been discussing among themselves who was the greatest.” How boring their conversation must have been! Let me be clear: these discussions can occur in both seminary and the priesthood.

It’s often tempting for us to compare one another, gossip, and fall into pride. Up to this point in the Gospel of Mark, the Apostles have seen Jesus perform remarkable miracles. He has calmed the storm at sea. He has cast out demons (such as in the story with Legion when the swine run off the cliff into the sea). He has cured Simon’s mother-in-law, he has cleansed a leper, he has healed a paralytic, he cured the man with a withered hand, he cured the woman with hemorrhages who simply touched his cloak, he has miraculously fed over five thousand, he has walked on water, he has placed his fingers in the deaf man’s ears and brought healing, he miraculously fed another four thousand, and he has placed spittle on a blind man’s eyes and sight was restored. 

Gentlemen, I think you get the point. The Apostles should be talking about what Jesus has done as opposed to which one of them will be the greatest.

It’s a temptation in seminary and priesthood to stop talking about what Jesus is doing and reduce conversations to what another brother can or cannot do. It may sound like this, “Oh yeah, Billy will never go onto further education. He’s not smart enough. In fact, he will most likely be a parochial vicar at a small parish for a long time” or “Johnny, he will be a good administrator but he just cannot preach at all.”

These types of conversations are no different than that of the Apostles who “had been discussing among themselves who was the greatest.” 

What does Jesus do once He finds out that the Apostles had been having this type of conversation? He gives them an immediate lesson. In fact, Jesus reverses the conversation from “the greatest” to “the lowest.” Jesus reminds them that an authentic follower of Him must take the lowest place. Of course, this still holds true (especially for a seminarian and a priest). 

I think that it’s important for me to remind you of who you are as a seminarian. You know that the word seminarian (seminarius in Latin) means seed. You also understand that a seminary (seminarium in Latin) is a seedbed/garden. Notice a seed's movement: it enters the lowest place, below the soil. It enters into the dirt in order to grow (which is a reflection of humility, to be down to earth like a seed). A seed does not take the greatest place but rather the lowest place. It then digs its roots downward, lower and lower long before it ever bears fruit. 

Of course, this is reflective of the humble trajectory of Jesus Christ. 

God became a human being and entered our world alongside the stench, dirt, and mud of animals in a manger. He then continued to go lower throughout the Gospels. He kneels down next to the woman caught in adultery and writes in the sand. He washes the disciples' feet. Jesus also teaches His disciples, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). Jesus even enters the lowest place imaginable, a Roman crucifixion that leads into the depths of death and hell. Jesus goes all the way down into the muck and mud of our fallen humanity. In other words, Jesus always takes the lowest place.

An authentic priest follows the trajectory of Jesus, he takes the lowest place at all times. He does this by entering into the difficulties, conflicts, stresses, worries, anxieties, struggles, fears, problems, and sins of people. He always takes the lowest place and then lifts others toward Heaven. An authentic priest never elevates himself, stands above others, or looks down on them. Instead, like Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, an authentic priest looks up to humanity because he has taken the lowest place. His priesthood is to serve others, to lift them up, to heal them, and to encourage them. 

Gentlemen, know that I love to be a priest. Know that I often fail to take the lowest place. Know that I am a work in progress. I encourage you to be like a seed that enters downward, taking the lowest place. Do not be like the Apostles in today’s Gospel who participate in the boring conversation of “who was the greatest.” The priesthood is not found in that conversation. 

Follow the path of Jesus Christ which is the path of humility. It’s in this lowly place that one finds the priesthood. 

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Fr. Ben Daghir is a priest for the Diocese of Erie. He is a graduate of Elk County Catholic High School in Saint Marys, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, and St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. He considers writing one of his favorite hobbies.