Mt 23:1-12
While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised.”
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Can You Hear Me Now?
Clueless! How else can we describe the reaction of the disciples to Jesus’ prophecy of his imminent death and resurrection? Hard truths are hard to hear because they get in the way of what we want to hear. Like the Twelve, we modern-day disciples often drown out Jesus’ call to humble service with our own selfish pursuits:
“Me? I’ve got to worry about my family. I don’t have time to volunteer at some food pantry or visit that sick neighbor. I’m working sixty hours a week so I can afford a new Tesla… It’s my body, don’t tell me what to do with it!… Human induced global warming is just your opinion… Fleeing gang violence in another country is no excuse to break our laws… I say my prayers. I go to church. I trust the Lord will have a nice retirement package for me in heaven!”
What hard truths might the Lord be asking you to hear?
—Fr. J. Michael Sparough, SJ, is a retreat master, writer, and spiritual director at Bellarmine Jesuit Retreat House in Barrington, Illinois. His daily video reflections can be viewed here.
Prayer
In prayer, reflect on the juxtaposition of these passages.
WORDS of the Wicked
Come, let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah.
It will not mean the loss of instruction from the priests,
nor of counsel from the wise, nor of messages from the prophets.
And so, let us destroy him by his own tongue;
let us carefully note his every word.
—The people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem (Jer 18:18)
PRAYER of the Just
But my trust is in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.
—Psalm 31:15-16