25-May-16

Gospel MK 10:32-45
The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus went ahead of them.
They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them
what was going to happen to him.
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death
and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him,
spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death,
but after three days he will rise.”
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
came to Jesus and said to him,
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?”
They answered him,
“Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”
Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
They said to him, “We can.”
Jesus said to them, “The chalice that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
“You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Reflection:
"The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus went ahead of them. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid."
Courage comes in many forms.
It certainly takes courage to run into a burning house on impulse to save someone.
But, here we have a different kind of courage.
Jesus walks towards His suffering and death with full knowledge of what is about to take place.
Mark tells us, "Jesus went ahead of them," and those "who followed were afraid."
I can almost see Jesus: alone, head up, striding forward with love and trust, determined to accomplish His Father's will.
And the Apostles, following behind, confused and afraid, believing that He was the Messiah, but not understanding why He was was walking toward His own death.
But still, they followed because they loved Him.
"Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him."
Jesus had previously explained to them that He must die and be raised. Now, He takes them aside once more to explain in detail what must happen.
He will be mocked, spit upon, scourged, and killed, but He will rise from death.
Amazingly, immediately after Jesus' vivid description of what will be His ultimate sacrifice and suffering for the sake of humankind, James and John, two of His favorite followers, ask Him to honor them with high positions: “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”
Rather than being upset with James and John, Jesus, even on the way to His crucifixion, continues to teach, telling them, "Whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The lesson is clear: The greatest among us is the one who is the servant of all.
"Being humble means we recognize we are not earth to see how important we can become, but to see how much difference we can make in the lives of others." - - Gordon B. Hinckley