Alberic Jacovone OSB
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YEAR B
TWENTY-NINTH SUNDAY - 22.10.06
Is 53,2-3.10-11; Hb 4,14-16; Mk 10,35-45
Offer your life for others
‘A
life as a ransom for many’. With these mysterious words, Mark closes today’s Gospel, as Jesus
sums up the essence of what his life & his mission is all about. With the
same words, Mark challenges us to move from a self-centred, self-ish,
self-important life to one which is self-less & self-giving. Amazingly life
is fully alive & fully realized, only when aspects of self-image, self-worth
& self-esteem are freely, lovingly & generously spent & poured for
others, so others may have life in abundance. But -just as amazingly-, the older
we get, the more we realize how hard it is to ‘live for others’: it’s a
lesson we never fully learn. Yes, we become ‘saints’ in God’s sight only
when, & to the extent that, we live out of the Christian conviction to be of
service to others. In today’s story, Mark stresses the fact that the disciples
of Jesus failed to understand this central & vital lesson. Thus, he wants us
to realize that this lesson is not learned & lived, out of naive pride or
stoic asceticism but only out of deep humility: out of an intimate desire to
live in union with, & in mystical love for Christ. Yes, the ‘saints’
show us how we advance on the road to discipleship, (-we used to call it ‘way
to holiness’-) through self-sacrifice, making acts of reparation, offering
with Jesus our life ‘as a ransom for many’, after the example of Jesus,
& for the sake of the Church: The Son of God came first, not to be served,
but to serve & give his life as a ransom. This Gospel logic will never make
sense, if we seek to go & grab & get all we can for ourselves, without
any consideration to those who also have rights & needs. Ever so slowly we
discern & discover, that to be happy we must be ‘happy with’ someone,
and to be rich we must be ‘rich for’ someone. Only with hindsight we
realize that we can commit suicide if we have no one to share life &
fortune with.
What
it takes to be a Christian. Today’s Gospel story highlights how naive & petty can be at times
our relationships with God & one another. As an example, consider today’s
story: for the third time, Jesus stresses to his apostles that he must go to his
destiny, viz. that he must suffer & die for our salvation. And straight away
James, John & their mum claim first places in what they consider Jesus’
path of glory. See how enthusiastically & naively they declare themselves
ready to follow Jesus even to death: they will drink the cup & undergo the
baptism which Jesus faces.... But clearly, they had not understood a thing about
the cost of being an apostle. Notice also that the rest of the apostles were
just as naive with their appalling indignation towards the two brothers. They
too wanted first places & did not want to be left out; all of them wanted
Jesus to do their will, rather than the other way around. No one had any
intention to do the will of the Father. All they wanted was to be part in a
march of glory towards a political & earthly kingdom, where power &
riches would come to those who are in special places of favour, at the right
& left of their leader, who is none other than God’s Son. But today’s
story is meant for us, just as we consider ourselves today’s Church &
followers of Christ. To us foolish people of our parish today, Jesus makes it
clear that our world view -locked as it is in our daily petty experiences-, is
not how God plans our life to be. Church & family life is not lording it
over weaker members, though structures of power & authority. Instead it is a
call to service & humility, & it comes at a great cost. We, in Sydney
& Australia, are preparing to celebrate with the Pope ‘World Youth Day’:
how ready are we to take this challenge & empower our youth to give our life
for Christ, without counting the cost?
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