TWENTY NINTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - B

TWENTY NINTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR – B: (Is 53:10-11; Heb 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45) Theme: We, Christians, have to dominate the world with the service, not with the authority Reflection: True wisdom is to make ourselves least and servants of all - We are to be wise. We are to be in the school of Jesus. We need to sell everything away inorder to accumulate treasures in heaven. We need to choose Jesus in order to inherit the eternal life. Only Jesus can give the ultimate sense and destiny to our life. In front of true wisdom, wisdom which comes from the Word of God, Jesus, everything else values nothing. This is the message of the last Sunday. This Sunday the readings demonstrate what is the purpose of gaining this wisdom. Wisdom is never for one’s own profit and one’s own growth alone. It is to be at the service of all. If we are truly wise we are to place ourselves available for others. This reveals that the wisdom is not just having the knowledge of the life but it is a task to make ourselves last of all and if needed servant of all. Being wise means to fatigue for others. Being wise means to face the risk for the good of others. Being wise means to endure sufferings and insults for the well being of others. If we put it in one phrase: being wise means to carry our daily cross as the faithful servants. The true wisdom, thus, cannot be reduced only to the feelings of emotions and sentiments and to the superficial manifestation of our availability to others. It is, thus again, to place ourselves completely at the service of others, even to the point of losing our life. - Perennial desire of man is to dominate others: The reality of the world is obvious. The desire of man is to be above all. Human apsiration is to dominate the world and therefore, others. Man aspires for the importance in the community. He strive always for the recognition in the society. He wants that all look at him and all feel his presence. It is the common desire of man. It already came into the world in the beginning of creation of man in freedom and in dignity. First man, in his freedom opted to be like God and thus entered the aspirations to be above all and to dominate everything. In fact, it is the human dignity to grow day by day and to become capable of ruling the world. Jesus also reminds us this in today’s gospel: those who are considered to be the rulers of the nations, dominate them and the leaders oppress the people (Mark 10). Jesus presents the situation of the nations and the attitude of their leaders. He shows that they aspire for power and authority and once they sit on the chair they show their domination, not their service. Indeed, this kind of power and domination destroy the dignity of man. Each man is naturally given the dignity of freedom and good life. Man is never created to be slave. Man is never created to be dominated. Man is never created to be controlled. He is created to live happy with all human equality and justice. But the reality has been changed. Man has become arrogant and selfish. Man has reached to the state of accumulating everything for himself. He has learnt an attitude of using other for his self glory and self growth. In the context of this domination Jesus present to us, to the world, an attitude of service and losing ourselves for the well bieng of others. - We are to be on the contrary to the world: We are not to be floated away with the waves of the world’s aspirations. We are not to become fry to the false images that the world present to us. We are not to become slaves to the misconceptions and temporary ideologies of the world. Jesus calls us back. Jesus asks us to stop. Jesus invites us to swim opposite to these waves. It is difficult task to counter the challenges of the world. Yet, it is not impossible. Jesus himself shows us how. He makes himself a servant and last of all. With the attitude of service and with the readiness to offer his life, He becomes both victorious and model for us. With the incarnation He allowed himself to be a man. With the passion and death He allowed himself to be a servant. He fought against the passions of the world. He battled against the aspirations of the flesh. His war was until offering his life on the cross and until to the death on it. He never gave up being a true man, who always stands above all these false ideologies of power, domination and authority. A single fine example for us is his victory over the temptations of Satan in the desert after his forty days of prayer (Math 4:1ff). He did not give up for the false hunger, hunger of the body. He did not fall fry to the false prestige of power. He did not become slave to the self glory and dominion. In all these, he has become both victorious and exemplary for us. We are called to do the same. We are to travel against the passings passions of the world. We have to respond to the world, as christians, not with tit for tat, not with the eye for eye, not with the ear for ear, not with the word for word and not even with the sword for sword. Our only instrument of winning the world is the service. Jesus encourages us little more with the light of today’s readings. Readings: To drink the chalice of Jesus means – carrying the cross of service - Suffering servant of Yahweh (first reading): The text of the first reading, from the book of prophet Isaiah, presents us the figure of the “servant of Yahweh”, the servant of God, the innocent just, who burdens himself with the iniquities of the men (Is 53:4). He suffers and give the life for the salvation of all. This suffering servant is rappresented in Jesus: because it is Jesus who is the true “servant of God”. He is the ture “lamb of God” (John 1:29)who takes on himself the sin of the world for our salvation. It is Christ, as it is reminded in the second reaidng, who is the high priest and who offers himself for the redemption of all. By making this offering of himself, as he himself is both God and man, he is “the only mediator between God and men” (1 Timothy 2:5). St. Leo the Great, the Pope, in the Fifth Century, comments on this and states that “it was convenient that Christ, ‘the power of God and the wisdom of God’ (1 Cor 1:24), to be born in such a way to bring himself to our level through his human nautre and to be infinitely superior to us through his divinity. In fact, if he were not true God, he would not have brought us the salvation, and if he were not true man, he would not have given us the example” (Leo the Great, The discourse 1 for the Nativity of the Lord). - He is like us in all things except in sin (second reading): Suffering servant of Isaiah is the prefiguration of Jesus Christ. He is the servant who in His death and resurrection, offers himself as the sacrifice of reparation. In being such a servant he opens the way of the hope, sign and manifestation of love of God. This is the truth that is proclaimed by the second reading of today. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews hold that “Jesus, the Son of God (…) was himself put to the test in every thing like us, excluding the sin”. In the same way, the author invites us to maintain the confessin of faith exhorting us to come to the grace and to receive the mercy so that in the given moment we can resist what is not good (second reading). - Among you it should not be like this (Gospel): In the gospel, Jesus proposes the new mode of understanding the power and position in the society. James and Jacob wanted to get the good positions in the kingdom that Jesus is going to establish. In deed, they were not knowing exactly what they are asking for. In reality, they were not in the capability of understanding the track of Jesus. In fact, they could not but think in the terms of power and authority whatever that Jesus was doing. Jesus knows that they were not not in anyway different from others. Jesus undersands that they did not learn even a single attitude from his teachings and miracles. Jesus takes the question of the two disciples as an occasion to give a response not only to both of them, or to the twelve of the his apostles, but to everyone who accepts to follow him. He responds not only to them but to the perennial aspiration man: a never ending desire of man for power and prestigious post in the society. As all aspire, the two apostles also have aspired. It is not a particular thing. But Jesus’ answer stands out to be special and particular. He tells them: “But among you it is not like that; who wants to become great among you shall be your servant, and who wants to be the first among you shall be a slave of all. Even the Son of Man infact did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life in ransom for many” (gospel). Jesus makes it clear that the world may have its ways and its aspirations, but his followers should learn an exactly opposite attitude. - Radical Discipleship: Jesus does not want that his followers misunderstand his teaching. He makes it utterly clear by degrading himself to the utmost level of stewardship in washing the feet of his disciples. It is only in that moment he gives an ever living example of being servant. He transforms his words into action at the Last Supper. It is here that he commands them to learn from him: the attitude of service. It is here that he makes it clear that drinking in his chalice is to participate in his redemptive action: becoming servants and to pour out one’s life for others. Jesus asks the disciples to drink from his chalice and with that he invites them to take up the cross of service and self-sacrifice. This is the radical discipleship that Jesus proposes. His disciples cannot be but like him in everything. For this Jesus himself is the ultimate example: He is the Promised Messiah who has fought and won the temptions of the political messiahship who is characterized by the dominion over the nations (Math 4:8-11; Luke 4:5-8). He is the Son of Man who has come to serve and to give his life (Mark 10:45; Math 20:24-28; Luke 22:24-27). He is the one who teaches and makes himself last and servant of all (Mark 9:33-35; 10:35-40; Math 20:20-23). The only way for us is the Way of Jesus. Conclusion: Christian Vocation – to serve all and to give life for others - We have to dominate the world but only with the service: The teaching of Jesus is clear for us. We want to be first, great and masters. Jesus is willing us to be last, small and servants. The choice is before us. The decision is in our hands. What are we to prefer? We prefer to be as we aspire or we prefer to be as Jesus wants? What do we make of ourselves: disciples of Jesus or friends of the world? Jesus only invites and questions. The answer is always in, with and by us. Not that we do not excercise the power and authority. We can and we have to. But in the way that Jesus shows us. We need to do everything with the service-mindedness. In the family for example: we need to know how to work for the members of the family. We need to know to listen to all, to be available for all, to renounce and give up if needed our idea so that others may have the chance of expressing themselves. It is in respecting and safeguarding the rights of others that the attitude of service lies. In the place work, for example: we need to be little charitable. We need to know doing everything for the good of others. There will be sometimes competition. There will be sometimes incomprehension. There will be sometimes play of prestige and authority. There will be sometimes the persons who create unnecessary and untimely damages. Inspite of these, we need to be service-minded. It is in giving preference to the common good that the Christian attitude of chairty lies. In a word, we need to pour out our time, our physical and mental energies, our presence and our personal requirements, for the good of others and for the well-being of all those who are around us. - Christian language of service is the Cross of offering and suffering: Jesus, through the proclamation of today’s gospel, shows us that the unique and the only walk we make towards our eternal bliss is to go after him with the cross on our shoulders. He asks us whether we are capable of drinking his chalice and sharing his cross with hm. The chalice may be bitter but he drank it before us and by drinking it himself he makes it drinkable. The cross may be heavier but he carried it before us and by taking it upon himself he makes its light. Even in their failure to understand everything that Jesus asks, the disciples answered immediately and with one voice: yes, we will drink (gospel). Cross is made the sign of service and love. For few it may be stumbling block. For few it may be the foolishness. For few it may be the weakness and helplessness. But for us, it is the language of love: love to offer oneself and love to suffer for others. It is this chalice of service we need to fill our life. It is this cross of suffering we need to bear on our hearts. The Eucharistic celebration and our participation in it invites us to transform ourselves in to the chalice and cross for the glory of God and for the well-being of our community. Are we ready for this challenging demand? Are we ready to take up this responsiblity? Are we ready to become his true and authentic disciples? We need to answer before we come for the consumation of His Body and His Blood in the Holy Communion. Let us prepare ourselves for the worthy reception of the Chalice and Cross.