Reflection for February 25 Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time: Mark 9:30-37

Gospel: Mark 9:30-37

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise." But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.  

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?" But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. 

Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all." Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst, and putting his arms around it, he said to them, "Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.

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Reflection:

Why Do You Follow Jesus?

As Jesus and the disciples were walking, He told them:“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill Him, and three days after His death, the Son of Man will rise” (Mark 9:31). But they did not pay much attention to what Jesus told them because they were busy conversing about who among them was the greatest.

We assume that Jesus and the disciples had just finished their mission of preaching the Kingdom of God. They performed miracles such as healing the sick, expelling demons, and more. Because of these miraculous acts, the disciples’ high regard for themselves got the better of them. They were already angling to claim the title of the greatest among the disciples.

Are not many of us like the disciples? Do many of us not have hidden motives when we do acts of kindness? Do many of us not desire to be praised for what we do? Do many of us not feel proud when we do good things? Was it possible that the disciples were feeding their own egos, which is why they were discussing who was the greatest among them?

In the midst of their bloated egos, Jesus gave them a valuable lesson about humility and what it means to be humble servants of the Lord and His people. Thus, He told them: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35).

In other words, if you want to be a leader, be a humble servant—someone who is always ready to serve without seeking accolades or honors. A true leader desires to serve humbly, always walking his talk and practicing what he preaches. This is what Jesus wanted the disciples to embrace: to become humble servants.

This is also what Jesus wants for us. However, some of us are the opposite of the servant leader that Jesus envisioned. Instead of placing the title of "leader" in our hearts, we place it in our heads. That is why many of us become false and arrogant leaders—those who merely give orders, abuse their authority, and take advantage of innocent followers.

As a result, we serve only our personal interests. The servant leadership that Jesus’ desires for us is completely pushed aside, replaced by our greed for power, our ego, and our arrogance.

What must we do so that we can rightfully claim to follow the greatest servant leader who ever walked this earth? We must be humble at all times; we must continuously decrease while Jesus increases through our acts of humility.

The mistake of many who follow Jesus is that we often act without humility. We feel superior because we have a distorted sense of closeness to Jesus when, in reality, we are not. Our intimacy with the Lord is not defined by religious titles, ranks, or positions, nor is it determined by the frequency of our worship.

Our closeness to Jesus is measured by how we live out His virtue of humility. — Marino J. Dasmarinas