Gospel: Mark 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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
The Mass intention is for Stanislaw & Krystyna Cipko and deceased members of all the family.
Reflection:
St Philip Neri, founder of the Oratory (the same congregation which St John Henry Newman belonged to) was known to have taken Rome by storm. He touched the hearts of thousands who went to him for confession. He also gave comfort and spiritual direction to many souls. He organised meetings that combined prayer and music. These meetings would conclude with almsgiving or pilgrimage to Rome’s basilicas.
In today’s Gospel, James and John demanded to be sat at Jesus’ left and right in His glory. In St Matthew’s Gospel, it was their mother who made such a bold request to the Lord. The other apostles’ anger at the brothers was probably rooted in their own personal ambition. The measure of greatness, as far as Jesus is concerned, is by being humble. Jesus’ leadership is very different because it does not lord over others. On the contrary, the Lord leads by being a servant of all. Such ‘servant-leadership’ was mirrored by St Philip in reaching out to many young men at that time who had little to do after lunch or to patients in hospitals with poor conditions. We too are called to mirror Jesus the Servant in a world that hungers and thirsts for His love and healing.
- How does being humble make you a better person?
- How can you reach out to more people in your community?
- “When shall we begin to do good?” (St Philip Neri)
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Word today. Through the prayers and example of St Philip Neri, protect us from every temptation to be proud so that we may cheerfully serve others the way You serve us. Amen.
(Pietro)
