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.”
+ + + + + +
Reflection:
Why do we desire to follow the Lord?
If we want to follow we should prepare for the many sacrifices that we have to go through for the greater glory of God. Many of us are averse to
sufferings and sacrifices we want a life of ease and comfort. But life of ease
and comfort are not the way of life of Jesus for His way of life is laden with
trials, humility and sacrifice.
Using their mother as their emissary the two disciples were aspiring to
be great in the eyes of the world yet they were followers of Jesus. Were they
really followers or just pretending to be followers? If they were true
followers they would have not asked for the best seats beside Jesus.
Let us not lose sight of the fact that the essence of following Jesus is
to serve with humility. It’s not to serve for us to be noticed, admired and
respected for these are all ego-tripping and self-advertisement.
The true follower is not hungry for power, prestige and entitlement. He
is content to humbly serve even if nobody would notice him. The more that he is
not noticed for what he does for the Lord the more that he would favor it.
This is the paradox of true discipleship, it contradicts our way of self-centered
thinking. It rather directs us to the real essence of discipleship which
involves humility and sacrifice. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
No comments:
Post a Comment