29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle B, Year II)

Community Word:  The Kingdom of God belongs to those who submit to His authority.
Theme:  We submit to God’s authority when we become the servant of all.
Promise:  “The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for this kindness, to deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine.” (Ps 33:18-19)

Reflection:        New Paradigm for Christians
As we step deeper into the life of Jesus, we are ushered into an intriguing part of his life and that of his Apostles.  The Gospel reading gives us an insight into the true character of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But before we can truly grasp the full meaning of this passage, let us first draw the predicate leading to this incident.

Before the scene depicted here, Jesus had already been preaching about the events that were yet to unfold – his passion, death and resurrection.  And even while the Apostles may have been with him for quite sometime listening to his discourses and teachings, it is possible they still viewed him as the conquering king destined to deliver Israel from Roman domination.

It was probably out of fear that his prophetic words will turn into reality that the mother of James and John took courage to speak to Jesus to persuade him to place her sons to his right and to his left.  Note that it was not James and John who went to Jesus, but their mother, whom Mark identifies as Salome, sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  This gives us a different perspective – that of a mother concerned for the welfare of their children.  Being an aunt of Jesus may have given her the boldness to speak out for what she thought was right:  that Jesus should pass on the mantle of leadership to James and John, his close relatives.  On the other hand, even if it was the mother who went to Jesus, it is probable that Salome did so after consulting both James and John, who also entertained the idea of sitting in the place of honor and did not stop their mother from raising the matter with Jesus.

Here we find a parallelism in the attitude of members of many civic and social organizations, and even Christian congregations.  There are those who would go to great lengths to sit in places of honor.  They would do everything – even pretend to be what they are not – just to become top honcho in their organizations and or serve as elder in their congregation, if this has become their lifelong quest and desire.  And there are those who would cling to power, forgetting that the value of true servant leadership is to develop, promote and raise future leaders from among those they serve.

Jesus’s response sets the tone for the paradigm that his ministry will pursue, a paradigm encompassing daily struggle, heart-breaks, disappointments, frustrations, life-long obedience and faithfulness, sacrificial and humble service that everyone must embrace if we are to follow Christ wherever he may lead and if we wish to be like him in any life situation or circumstance.  This passage demonstrates how we too must address or deal with situations or persons in our lives that test us beyond our normal limits.  Jesus is telling us not to lose our composure and patience, and that we must respond with sincerity and honesty.

As this Sunday has also been designated by the Church as World Mission Sunday, the Gospel passage should remind us that to be great in the eyes of God is to be humble in the eyes of men.  This is the kind of revolution that Jesus launched, but which the people and the Pharisees found difficult to grasp.  It is this attitude of serving others without counting the cost that will lead us to the Kingdom of God.  Mark, the Evangelist who wrote this Gospel ends the passage with a summation of what it means to lead, with Jesus providing the template for true leadership, demonstrating by his example that a leader must be prepared to give his life in the service of the served.  Instead of using people we are to serve them.  This should remind us of of St. James the Apostle who was the first among the Apostles to have been martyred in the service of God and men.

There is also the example of Toyohiko Kagawa, scion of a wealthy Japanese family who chose to live with the poor of the Tokyo slums in order to serve them.  In one of his books he wrote: “God dwells among the lowliest of men. He sits on the dust heap among the prison convicts.  He stands with the juvenile delinquents; He is there with the beggars.  He is among the sick, he stands with the unemployed.  Therefore let him who would meet God visit the prison cell before going to the temple.  Before he goes to Church let him visit the hospital.  Before he reads the Bible let him helps the beggar.”  This is the kind of greatness that God seeks. The world may have its own standards for greatness – intellectual or academic brilliance, widely-ranging membership at important committees and or ministries, beautiful homes and fat bank accounts – but these things are irrelevant in assessing the true value of a person.  Jesus simply asks: “How many people have you helped?”

Sure, we serve at Community growth programs, at the various encounters, Life in the Spirit seminars, teachings, shepherding, and at communities we have helped establish, but almost of all these events are held in comfortable venues.  Have we the courage to really ask ourselves if this is what Jesus would do if he were here with us?  Wouldn’t he want us to be like Toyohiko Kagawa who served the poor by living with them, or like St. James who faced death in the service of the Church?  In addition to the qualifications for future community leaders that comes under review during our period of Emergence, we – and even other non-BLD members who may be reading this reflection – should realize that Jesus sums up his whole life in just one phrase, and this should be written in the hearts of all men especially those in leadership: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (v.45)

Jesus came not as a conqueror who will occupy a throne, but as the Lamb of God to occupy a cross.  The Jews looked for a king who will crush their enemies, but Jesus came as a broken King who hung on the cross.  But his death, which ransomed us from the slavery of sin, is the epitome of genuine sacrificial love.  It is the model of leadership that Jesus also wants us to follow.  Our Lord gave everything to lead sinners like us back to God, and this is the kind of life that he wants us to live.  We must walk in his steps and be prepared to give up our lives to love and serve our neighbors, because it is only by loving and dying for our neighbors that we can find the way to God.  It is in dying that we can be “On F.I.R.E.” again.

Reflection Questions:
1.    What prevents you from serving in the mission field? Have you understood the concept of discipleship and humble service that Jesus wanted us to embody?
2.    How do you intend to follow what Jesus prescribes in Mark 10: 43 – 44?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
October  21, 2012 (Sun)    Is 53:10-11/ Ps 33:4-5, 18-20,22/ Heb 4:14-16/ Mk 10:35-45
October 22, 2012 (Mon)     Eph 2:1-10/ Ps 100:1-5/ Lk 12:13-21
October 23, 2012 (Tues)    Eph 2:12-22/ Ps 85:9-14/ Lk 12:35-38
October 24, 2012 (Wed)    Eph 3:2-12/ Is 12:2-6/ Lk 12:39-48
October 25, 2012 (Thur)    Eph 3:14-21/ Ps 33:1,2,4,5,11,12,18,19/ Lk 12:49-53
October 26, 2012 (Fri)       Eph 4:1-6/ Ps 24:1-6/ Lk 12:54-59
October 27, 2012 (Sat)      Eph 4:7-16/ Ps 122:1-5? Lk 13:1-9

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ.  Read your Bible daily!”