Gospel: Matthew
20:20-28
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:
Who is an
exemplary leader?
An
exemplary leader leads by example, he does not aspire to that position of
leadership to be popular, to be seen and to give orders while he/she is enjoying
the trappings of his position. He ascends to that position of leadership
because he wants to be a person for others and to serve even at the cost of his
life: And this is Jesus.
In the
gospel today we see a mother asking a favor from Jesus (if her two sons could seat
beside Jesus) but the mother has no full comprehension of the earthly destiny
that awaits Jesus. If only she knew she would not have asked Jesus that favor.
Why is is
that many are attracted to serve in the serve church? They want to serve because they thought that
it’s an opportunity for them to be seen, to be on the spotlight. Thus, after
they are given their work they have this realization that this is not what they
wanted to do because it involves sacrifice and humility. And for obvious
reasons they don’t last in their ministry.
To serve
in the church alongside Jesus always involves sacrifice and humility. You don’t
want to serve because you want influence and power. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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