Mark 10:32-45
32 They 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.
33 "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
34 who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise."
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
36 He replied, "What do you wish (me) to do for you?"
37 They answered him, "Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."
38 Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
39 They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
40 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."
41 When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
42 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.
43 But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
44 whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
45 For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."
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This is today’s gospel. I actually got myself out of bed and went to mass this morning and was really struck by this. It shows that the apostles were human – James and John wanted to be recognized as "the best", and the rest of the Twelve were jealous. The teaching here is spectacular: those who wish to be great in the eyes of God need to be humble servants. A message that’s far easier to understand than to implement.
When I look deep inside and think about how much of a humble servant I really am, the answer isn’t good. I go to mass regularly, and am starting to go during the week now. I pray more now than I ever have before, and am concentrating hard on opening up my heart to God and make things as personal as I can. I’ve brought the Blessed Mother back into my life after a LONG absence. A month and a half ago I went to confession for the first time in 25 years, and have gone since. Things are spiritually moving in my life.
Yet we’re called to be humble servants, and quite honestly, I don’t fit that description. I have far to go.
