Wednesday, March 04, 2015 2nd Week of Lent 1st Reading: Jer 18:18–20 Gospel: Mt 20:17–28
When Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve aside and said to them on the way, “See, we are going to Jerusalem. There the Son of Man will be given over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law who will condemn him to death. They will hand him over to the foreigners who will mock him, scourge him and crucify him. But he will be raised to life on the third day.”
Then 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)
The mother of James and John dictated to Jesus the manner her sons should be seated in God’s kingdom. While we understand that mothers by nature won’t rest until they have given the best to their children, we cannot approve her politicking even in matters of the soul. D.L. Moody wrote, “God has two thrones, one in the highest heavens, and another in the lowliest heart.” The second throne (the throne in the lowliest heart) establishes the nature of the first (the throne in heaven). If God loves to reign in the hearts of the lowly, he shouldn’t be comfortable reigning in heaven seated on a throne surrounded by power-hungry people. True enough Jesus turned down the request of the mother of James and John.
If we are humble, our place in heaven comes as a matter of course. We do not even have to ask for it. If already on earth God loves to occupy the throne at lowly hearts, he himself will see to it that these humble people sit with him around his heavenly throne. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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