From the Gospel according to 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.”
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.”
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.”
Teach Me to Love
Lord, how is it possible that You do not get angry with James and John? You are telling them that You are going to be arrested, scourged, killed… and they are only thinking about securing an important place for themselves. It is so wrong, so unfair that they ignore You and think only of themselves! Shouldn’t You say something to make them realize it, so they can learn? And the others too, shouldn’t You correct them? They are not upset in order to defend You, but because they also want those places of honor.
My Lord, why don’t You get angry? Don’t their words hurt You? Surely it hurt You to see their inability to stop thinking about themselves, their inability to put themselves in Your place. But it hurt You for their sake, not for Yours. Because You truly love. You do not love wrongly, that is, You do not love Yourself in a selfish way. You have no self-centered pride. That is why You react the way You do. Because You are filled with love for them, saddened inside by their sin, yet You embrace their poverty with tenderness and excuse them. You realize that they are unable to see clearly. You are not concerned that they fail to notice Your self-giving, but rather that they desire the first places. There Your love is revealed: love for them, not self-love. That is why You do say something to them, but not by reproaching them for not caring about You. Instead, You show them that it is not right to focus on wanting to rule over others. You tell them that love means giving oneself. That life is not about thinking of oneself, but about loving as You love. About freeing oneself from the slavery of selfish pride, which wounds both oneself and others, and becoming filled with the freedom of God, with Your Love.
Come, Holy Spirit! Teach me to love. Free me from selfish love so that I may love with You.
Applied to Married Life:
Martin: This Gospel is wonderful. It shows us how Jesus teaches us to behave, how to react in situations that hurt us.
Maureen: Absolutely! I would have been outraged by such a great injustice. I tell my closest friends that I am going to be killed, and they just ignore me!
Martin: Yes, and Jesus does not get angry. He does not focus on the fact that they ignore Him, but rather on the fact that life is meant for self-giving, for serving, not for being served. For thinking about others, not about oneself.
Maureen: Because He truly loves. He has no selfish pride; He does not love Himself above others. By contemplating Jesus, I see so clearly so many moments when I become angry at what I consider unfair, when I react badly, when I throw things back in people’s faces thinking that I have to say them, that it is for their own good so they will learn… But really, I am thinking about myself. I am not putting myself in the place of others. I am not loving the way God wants me to love.
Martin: We need to let the Lord fill us with His Love. Only then will we be able to love as He loves. And for that, we need to die to our selfish pride. Please, let us fully commit ourselves to this path of prayer, sacraments, and sacrifices that purify our hearts so that God may do His work within us.
Mother,
Teach me to love as You do, thinking only of doing the will of God. Blessed and praised be God!