TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
17 OCTOBER 2021
As
we continue to reflect on the Gospel of Mark again this Sunday, we know that
Jesus is walking on the way with his disciples to Jerusalem. He has made it clear that he is the Christ,
the Messiah. But he has also made it
clear that his mission is not what they had hoped for. He is not a conquering hero like King David,
driving out their enemies to establish an earthly kingdom. He will be the suffering servant of the
Prophet Isaiah. In his suffering, he
will justify all and bear their guilt.
Their way will end in Jerusalem, where he will die on a cross like a
common criminal. He has just told them
this truth for the third time prior to today’s Gospel.
The
disciples either do not hear what he is saying or they cannot imagine that this
man whom they love could possibly be a crucified Messiah. James and John, the sons of thunder, have not
listened. They express their stark
ambition by insisting that Jesus do for them whatever they ask of him. They want to share in his glory by sitting at
his right and left sides, places of power, honor, and prestige in the royal
courts of their time. Jesus clearly
loves them, just as he had loved the rich young man in last Sunday’s
Gospel. He does not yell at them or
chastise them for their clueless request.
He calmly informs them that they do not know what they are asking.
He asks
them if they can drink of his cup. They
understand his question. They know that
God gives everyone a cup to drink from, a cup that would represent God’s fate
for their lives. However, they do not
understand that the cup from which Jesus drinks is the work of suffering given
to him by his Father. In fact, he will
beg the Father to take that cup from him when he is in agony in the Garden of
Gethsemani. He also asks if they can be
baptized in the baptism with which he is baptized. They insist that they can, not knowing that
Jesus will be drowned in the floodwaters of pain, torture, and death.
Jesus tells
them that they will eventually drink from his cup and be drowned in the baptism
of his death. On Calvary, they will see
that those on his right and his left will be the two thieves dying on the cross
with him. But those seats on either side
of him in glory can only be given by the Father, who gives both the cup and the
baptism to Jesus and his faithful disciples.
When the
other ten hear about the brothers’ request, they become indignant. They are indignant, not because they are
shocked at their request, but because the sons of thunder got to Jesus before
they did to ask the question. So, Jesus
explains his role and their participation in that role. He tells them that if they want to be
authentic leaders in his kingdom, they too must drink his cup and be drowned in
his baptism of suffering. The hallmark
of true leadership is humble service. If
they want glory, they must imitate his humbling, self-emptying love.
Saint
Vincent de Paul understood this when he told his followers: “Let us work with a new love in service of
the poor, looking for the most destitute and abandoned among them. Let us recognize that that before God they
are our Lords and masters, and we are unworthy to render them our small
services.” The members of our parish
Saint Vincent de Paul Society model the same truth for us. They stand at the right and left of Christ to
have their hands full of food for the hungry, medicines for the ill, holding
neglected children, and giving support to the infirm. They invite the rest of us to be grateful for
the gifts of time, talent, and treasure that each of us has received from
God. They encourage us to embrace
stewardship as a way of life. As good
stewards, we lead best by being humble servants to those we are called to
serve.
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