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Some of the things that Our Lord said and did were so revolutionary, so contrary to       custom that we find them difficult to believe, let alone practice. One such statement is:   “Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve the needs of all.”

Jesus dared to suggest that the greatest person at a banquet may not be the honored guest at the head table. It well might be one of those men and women who are out there     pouring the coffee, serving the food, and cleaning up the tables after everyone else has gone home.

The greatest person in a school may not be the principal or even one of the members of the PTA. It may be the custodian who loves his family, is loyal to his friends, sweeps the floors with a simile, and is   always ready to help in any way that he can.

The greatest person in a nation may not be the president. It may be a schoolteacher who day after  day, gives herself or himself with great devotion to meet the needs of her or his students.

The greatest person in a church may not be the priest. It may be one of the people in the sacristy who helps   care for the needs of the day, or someone in the pew who, without noise of fanfare, helps to meet the needs of the poor and homeless.

We could multiply the examples, but we all get the picture. Yet many of us have difficulty taking this idea of   Jesus very seriously. We all admire its idealism. But not many of us are truly convinced that greatness can be achieved only by service. Everything around us seems to argue against that. So we go through life grasping for prestige and power. Everyone wants to be somebody special. And we think the way to do this through the accumulation of wealth and the exercise of power. What havoc this causes in families and communities.

Who are the great people of the past – the truly great, those to whom we look with admiration and appreciation, those whom we remember the way that we would like to be remembered? Are they not our parents, friends and     relatives? Let a hundred years go by, and no person has a chance of being thought truly great except one who served and sought to help.

In our own little part of the world, each of us can be truly great if we are willing to serve the needs of others without fuss or fanfare. We will never become famous that way. It is doubtful that a national holiday will ever be     declared in our honor. But what does that matter? If those are the kinds of things that we are after, then we are still   in the old system, where those in authority lord it over the rest. But if it is true greatness that we seek, there is only one way to achieve it. We must follow in the footsteps of Jesus who said, “The Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve and to give His life in ransom for many.” Will you follow the Master?