Gospel: Matthew 20:17-28
As Jesus was going
up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to
them on the way, “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 to be mocked and scourged and
crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
Then the mother of
the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing
to ask him for something. He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered him,
“Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at
your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are
asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him,
“We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right
and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been
prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the
two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of
the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over
them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great
among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be
your slave. Just so, 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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Reflection:
What makes us worthy
in the eyes of Jesus? Obviously it’s not our title/s or any worldly appendages. What
makes us worthy in the eyes of Jesus is our readiness to humbly serve without
seeking any recognition in return. This is what makes us worthy in the eyes of
Jesus.
Why do we follow
Jesus in the first place? Is it for us to have an exalted position in our community
or in our parish church? We love it so much to be looked-up because we
advertise ourselves to be close to Jesus.
And when nobody is
noticing us we seek attention for we serve Jesus. Do we make Jesus happy when
we use Him for us to be exalted? Of course not! But this is where we always
fall! We use Jesus as our springboard for us to be exalted and respected.
Can’t we simply fade
away in silence after we’ve served our church or after we’ve done good to our
fellowmen? Can’t we simply fade away and let our gentle and merciful God be in-front
so that He could attract more believers?
Many of us are
afraid to be humble because we perceive humility as weakness. But truth be
told, our humility is powerful very powerful that it creates endless echoes in
the hearts of those who see and feel it. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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