Gospel : Mark 10 : 35 – 45
Year B
We would like You to do us a favour ….
Here is a simple request, innocent in appearance. But James and John have a personal scheme of which they have not spoken to You. So they act clever with You, they want to get You to pay attention to them in advance…. But am I not like this too sometimes?
I also, like my ideas, my schemes…. sometimes very human, earthly, selfish…. and I try to give them a spiritual gloss so that You will hear me! AS with James and John You could often say to us :
You do not know what you are asking!
They think of Your Reign in terms of a human kingdom: “to sit at Your right and Your left”, with all the honour that this entails. Thus they are contrary to Your scheme, to Your way of establishing Your reign. They must understand this … that I may also understand it better!
Whoever wants to become great, must be the servant of all!
It’s short! It’s clear! But it is a difficult path. So to help us, you invite us to watch You, to model ourselves on You:
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to serve to the end, to giving His life for many. Through the Eucharistic celebration, You tell me again that You are the Body given for all, and You offer unceasingly the Blood poured out for many. You call me to follow You on this path and You give me the strength, the grace for this. When the temptation is there, Lord, to think of myself, of “my glory” … when I am tempted to serve myself instead of serving others…. when I am tempted to pray that You will do my will … bring me back to follow You, in the role of a servant. Let me enter into Your prayer, Lord, and work for Your Kingdom, like You, not seeking to be served but rather to serve.
