Friday , July 25, 2014
James, Apostle
1st Reading: 2 Cor 4:7-15
Gospel:
Matthew 20:20-28
The mother of James and John came to Jesus with her sons, and she knelt down to ask a favor. Jesus said to her, “What do you want?” And she answered, “Here you have my two sons. Grant that they may sit, one at your right and one at your left, when you are in your kingdom.”
Jesus said to the brothers, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They answered, “We can.” Jesus replied, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right or at my left is not for me to grant. That will be for those for whom the Father has prepared it.”
The other ten heard all this and were angry with the two brothers. Then Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations act as tyrants, and the powerful oppress them. It shall not be so among you; whoever wants to be more important in your group shall make himself your servant. And if you want to be first, make yourself the servant of all. Be like the Son of Man who has come, not to be served but to serve and to give his life to redeem many.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
It is said that war does not determine who is right but who is left. The play of words is a picture of a destructive struggle for supremacy. The war for supremacy can happen even among people closest to God. In today’s Gospel, Matthew is discreet in making it appear it was a mother who asked Jesus to have her sons sit at his right and at his left. But in another gospel version we know that these Apostles themselves shamelessly asked Jesus such favor (Mark 10:37).
By the reaction of the rest of the disciples, we know that they too looked at discipleship from the paradigm of power. In fact, most of them abandoned the Lord at the cross like they had followed the wrong messiah.
Despite this human craving for power, Jesus patiently taught them that greatness is not a matter of holding positions of power but of positioning the power one holds in order to serve. Power in the context of discipleship has meaning only when used to improve the quality of life of others.
Jesus showed them how. In many instances Jesus refused to perform miracles for a show, avoided places of honor, and even evaded publicity by telling people after performing miracles not to spread news about him. Jesus refused to go higher except when the time for him to suffer came. When that time arrived, Jesus climbed even higher than a mountain could take him by allowing himself to be mounted on a cross. This is the height one must seek to attain if he wants real power. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.
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