Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter
The reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes how the Jews were jealous of the apostles because they were gathering bigger crowds. Jealousy does not need to fall along confessional lines, and more frequently than not, there is enough to go around among those who profess the same religion. Nothing tears apart an organization or a movement quicker than when members see themselves judged against the standard of popularity. In many ways, weaker human tendencies have found a refuge in publicity and with the quantification of “hits” on a web page the popularity can be measured. For no small reason have the great spiritual writers, Ignatius included, saw the merit in considering humility as a virtue and negation as its opposite, the desire for riches, honor, and pride. Wealth now as several currencies and one of them is popularity online. It was for no small reason that photos of Jesuits in the past tended to be a group of scholastics or the anonymous silhouette of a pious novice at prayer. The creation of a hierarchy of gifts and talents puts human wisdom far a pace of the wisdom of God, who wisely notes that the small and insignificant sometimes are the cause of the most important progress towards the Kingdom.