'Become as little children' – but how, and why?
Greatness is not measured by office, Fr Coleridge says, but by something else.
Greatness is not measured by office, Fr Coleridge says, but by something else.
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Editor’s Notes
In this part, Fr Coleridge tells us…
How Christ warns Apostles that their sacred mission demands continual mortification and vigilance.
That charity and prudence must season apostolic labours, lest ambition corrupt their souls and scandalise others.
Why his gentle yet firm exhortation recalls earlier teaching on salt, linking mortification to peace and fidelity.
He shows us that authentic apostolic service requires self-denial, interior charity, and unity, not rivalry.
For more context on this chapter, see Part I.
The Greater in the Kingdom
The Preaching of the Cross, Part I
Chapter VII
St. Matt. xviii. 1–14; St. Mark ix. 32–49; St. Luke ix. 46-8; Story of the Gospels, § 86-7
Burns and Oates, London, 1886.
Question of the Apostles
‘At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who, thinkest Thou, is the greater in the Kingdom of Heaven?’
These English words hardly give the full force of the original Greek, which might more accurately be rendered, ‘Who, then, shall be the greater in the Kingdom of Heaven?’
It is as if the disciples had made up their minds to have the question settled for them once for all, perhaps thinking that our Lord might deem it well to put the matter beyond all doubt, and so preclude the way for future discussions or speculations. But what they really needed was not the designation of any one particular Apostle as their ruler or leader, or as nearest to our Lord in authority or dignity.
As long as they had Himself with them, there was no need for that, and if there was no need, then the discussion was positively harmful for them, as an indulgence of curiosity, which always dissipates and disturbs the soul. What they needed was the enlightenment of their minds on the previous question, in what it was that the greatness and eminence in the Kingdom of Heaven was to consist.
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