FIRST READING
1 Peter 1:18-25
Beloved:
Realize that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious Blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished Lamb. He was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through him believe in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
Since you have purified yourselves by obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love, love one another intensely from a pure heart. You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and abiding word of God, for:
“All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the field; the grass withers, and the flower wilts; but the word of the Lord remains forever.” This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 147:12-13, 14-15, 19-20
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has granted peace in your borders; with the best of wheat he fills you. He sends forth his command to the earth; swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances to Israel. He has not done thus for any other nation; his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
ALLELUIA
Mark 10:45
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man came to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
Mark 10:32-45
The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them. They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them what was going to happen to him. “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 who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death, but after three days he will rise.” Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” He replied, ‘What do you wish me to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to him, ‘We can.” Jesus said to them, “The chalice that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
REFLECTIONS:
Was Jesus a pessimist or a stark realist? On three
different occasions the Gospels record that Jesus predicted he would endure
great suffering through betrayal, rejection, and the punishment of a cruel
death. The Jews resorted to stoning and the Romans to crucifixion the
most painful and humiliating death they could devise for criminals they
wanted to eliminate. No wonder the apostles were greatly distressed at
such a prediction! If Jesus their Master were put to death, then they would
likely receive the same treatment by their enemies. Jesus called himself
the Son of Man because this was a common Jewish title for the Messiah.
Why must the Messiah be rejected and killed? Did not God promise that his
Anointed One would deliver his people from their oppression and establish
a kingdom of peace and justice? The prophet Isaiah had foretold that it
was Gods will that the Suffering Servant make atonement for sins through
his suffering and death (Isaiah 53:5-12). Jesus paid the price for our
redemption with his blood. Slavery to sin is to want the wrong things and
to be in bondage to destructive desires. The ransom Jesus paid sets us
free from the worst tyranny possible the tyranny of sin and the fear
of death. Jesus victory did not end with death but triumphed over the
tomb.
Jesus defeated the powers of death through his resurrection. Do you want
the greatest freedom possible, the freedom to live as God truly meant us
to live as his sons and daughters?
Jesus did the unthinkable! He wedded authority with selfless service
and with loving sacrifice. Authority without sacrificial love is brutish
and self-serving. Jesus also used stark language to explain what kind of
sacrifice he had in mind. His disciples must drink his cup if they expect
to reign with him in his kingdom. The cup he had in mind was a bitter one
involving crucifixion. What kind of cup does the Lord have in mind for
us? For some disciples such a cup entails physical suffering and the painful
struggle of martyrdom. But for many, it entails the long routine of the
Christian life, with all its daily sacrifices, disappointments, set-backs,
struggles, and temptations. A disciple must be ready to lay down his or
her life in martyrdom and be ready to lay it down each and every day in
the little and big sacrifices required. An early church father summed up
Jesus' teaching with the expression: to serve is to reign with Christ.
We share in God's reign by laying down our lives in humble service as Jesus
did for our sake. Are you willing to lay down your life and to serve others
as Jesus did?
Lord Jesus, your death brought life and freedom. Make me a servant
of your love, that I may seek to serve rather than be served.
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