READINGS for 2007-05-30
THE CUP OF LIFE “Can you drink the cup..?” – Mark 10:38 REFLECTION |
1st READING Sirach 36:1, 5-6, 10-17 P S A L M G O S P E L Mark 10:32-45 ________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ God’s special verse/thought for me today________________ _________________________________________________________ Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________ _______________________________________________________ READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Psalm 59-67 |
WITH JESUS ON THE WAY TO CALVARY Jesus had told His disciples already two times that He would undergo suffering in Jerusalem, but never as solemn and detailed as in this passage. He must have been very sad when as only reaction His two ‘blind’ apostles asked for honor and fame. And the way they spoke! All the people who had approached Jesus with a petition had done so with modesty; no one had ever demanded anything from Jesus, let alone without indicating what was being demanded. I really admire Jesus. In such a situation I might have flared up and scolded the two. But Jesus remains calm and kind and leads them slowly to the truth that following Him means also to “drink the cup.” Our gospel passage begins with Mark saying that Jesus and His disciples were approaching Jerusalem, the city where Jesus would take up his Cross. And Mark mentions that Jesus was walking ahead of them. This is highly symbolic. Mark wants to tell us that Jesus goes ahead and a real disciple has to follow – all the way to Calvary. We do not like to think of the cross, but nobody of us can avoid the cross. It can destroy a person or make us stronger. And we know now what his disciples did not know yet: the Cross was not the end but the gate towards resurrection and eternal reward. A second message the Lord gives us is that to follow Him means to serve others. One of the most striking moments in the life of Jesus is when during the Last Supper He knelt down and washed the feet of His disciples, saying that He has given them now an example to do what He did for them. In His Kingdom, greatness does not consist of being served but in serving. No, it is not enough to shout: “I am saved, Halleluiah.” We have to work for it by following faithfully in the footsteps of Jesus who walked to Jerusalem, stumbled there through the narrow streets weighed down by the Cross and finally climbing with the Cross the hill of Calvary. That’s the only road to resurrection, the only way to heaven. No wonder that Jesus once warned that the way to heaven is very narrow and troublesome. Only faith helps us to fix our eyes on what lies beyond the cross, beyond suffering: being with the Lord forever. Fr. Rudy H. REFLECTION QUESTION: Am I able to accept the crosses God allows to burden me? Do I have the faith to look beyond and trust that suffering unites me with the Lord? Lord, I am more like James and John, looking for prestige and honor than thinking of the Cross. Strengthen me, Lord, to follow You on the Way of the Cross and so become worthy to be one day united with You in eternity. St. Ferdinand III of Castille, pray for us. |
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