Reflection for Friday July 25 Feast of Saint James, Apostle: Matthew 20:20-28

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:

Do you love to be in front? Do you love prominence? Do you love to always be in the starring role? 

Prominence and being seen with someone influential are things that we all want. For example, we love to post on Facebook and other social media platforms about the places we’ve visited. We love to share pictures of these beautiful places. This is perhaps human nature—who wouldn’t want to post pictures of nice and idyllic places? 

We all want these things, but the essence of life is not about advertising the famous places we’ve visited or the famous personalities we’ve been seen with. The true essence of life is to serve anyone who is in need of our help. It doesn’t matter whether the acts of service and compassion we do are seen by others or not; what is important is that we are able to help. 

As we follow Jesus, let us always be reminded that He never walked this world to gain publicity or prominence. Jesus walked this world to serve and not to be served. He never aspired to become famous. All He wanted was to simply follow the will of God for Him, no matter how difficult it was. This must also be our guiding principle. 

Many are attracted to serve in the church not because they want to help advance the teachings of Jesus, but because of what the church can give them or what they think they could derive from the church and Jesus if they serve. But we all know that this kind of motive is built upon a person’s self-image and is therefore useless. 

True service in the vineyard of the Lord is all about humility—not thinking of what we can derive from the church, but of what we can humbly give to God and His Church. True service for the Church is not about having power and influence; it is actually about losing power and influence for the greater glory of God. – Marino J. Dasmarinas