Then an argument broke out among them about which of them should be regarded as the greatest. He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them and those in authority over them are addressed as ‘Benefactors’; but among you it shall not be so. Rather, let the greatest among you be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant. For who is greater: the one seated at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one seated at table? I am among you as the one who serves.” 

Nick Fury, the director of SHIELD (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), and his agency had discovered the Tesseract, an energy source of unknown potential. Suddenly, the exiled god Loki, activated the device with the intention of unleashing destruction on the earth. Realizing that his only recourse was the "Avengers' Initiative," Fury summoned the Hulk (Dr. Banner), Iron Man, and Captain America to SHIELD headquarters. Eventually Loki's half-brother Thor, joined them and agents Black Widow and "Hawkeye" to determine what could be done about the dire situation. Loki had already managed to compromise "Hawkeye" and he was ready to use the evil force known as the Chitauri to subdue the earth. The superheroes managed to come together, but it seemed that their success was more dependent on whether they could control their pride than conquer any external force.

Pride is often the companion of talent. Every person in our world has talent of some sort, and when he/she becomes aware of it, and then developing it, using it, thinking about it, the talent can take on an existence of its own. We begin to understand what we can do, and often pride enters into the picture.

The obvious example for the Christian comes from the Gospels and the example of the Apostles when they began to see their powers. Jesus supplemented their own natural talents with his own guidance. Consequently, his disciples could honestly feel "great" about the things that they were doing. Their problem was that they forgot about the overall goal, and began to think about themselves too much.

It is the problem of talented humanity, exemplified by the Avengers in the movie named after them. They had talents and abilities that could prevent the destruction of the world which seemed imminent, but in many ways, those talents and abilities were of no use because pride had taken over their lives. Obsessed with their own importance, everything else was secondary. They had to face themselves before they could help the world.

Such pride may be the fundamental problem of all humanity. It was present with the disciples of Jesus, and it seems to be present in every age before and after them. The English expression is that "we let our importance go to our heads." When it happens, we lose sight of the importance of others, and thus lose perspective.

The essence of what might be called justifiable pride is knowing our own talents and gifts and at the same time accepting others to be as important as we are, no matter what anyone's talents. Jesus called it being a "servant" to others. If every man and woman honestly desires to be a servant to others, he/she will use their talents and gifts to make the world a truly better place.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you have given us talents and abilities that can help the world around us. Our problem is our pride. We begin to think that those gifts are from our own doing and not yours. Help us use the gifts that you have given us for the good of all. Be with us, we pray. 

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Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America