Wednesday March 16, 2022

Wednesday of 2nd Week in Lent

 

Suffering of the Prophet 

 

A prophet is always an annoying person. His mission is to call attention to the signs of the times – to denounce what no one dares denounce, to prod into action when all stand still and like to take it easy. His task is unpleasant and he carries it out reluctantly. For he is a scared man. He pleads to be excused. For he always gets into trouble. He may even be killed. That was the lot of the prophets before him and then Jesus’ lot – but through his death he won glory and brought life. Those who follow him, however timid they may be as prophets, have to share in this suffering-toward-life. They must at least learn to serve; even dedicated service brings often suffering.

 

First Reading: Jeremiah 18:18-23 

Some of the people said, “Come on, let’s cook up a plot against Jeremiah. We’ll still have the priests to teach us the law, wise counselors to give us advice, and prophets to tell us what God has to say. Come on, let’s discredit him so we don’t have to put up with him any longer.”

And I said to God:

“God, listen to me!
    Just listen to what my enemies are saying.
Should I get paid evil for good?
    That’s what they’re doing. They’ve made plans to kill me!
Remember all the times I stood up for them before you,
    speaking up for them,
    trying to soften your anger?
But enough! Let their children starve!
    Let them be massacred in battle!
Let their wives be childless and widowed,
    their friends die and their proud young men be killed.
Let cries of panic sound from their homes
    as you surprise them with war parties!
They’re all set to lynch me.
    The noose is practically around my neck!
But you know all this, God.
    You know they’re determined to kill me.
Don’t whitewash their crimes,
    don’t overlook a single sin!
Round the bunch of them up before you.
    Strike while the iron of your anger is hot!”

 

Gospel: Matthew 20:17-28 

Jesus, now well on the way up to Jerusalem, took the Twelve off to the side of the road and said, “Listen to me carefully. We are on our way up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death. They will then hand him over to the Romans for mockery and torture and crucifixion. On the third day he will be raised up alive.”

It was about that time that the mother of the Zebedee brothers came with her two sons and knelt before Jesus with a request.

 “What do you want?” Jesus asked.

She said, “Give your word that these two sons of mine will be awarded the highest places of honor in your kingdom, one at your right hand, one at your left hand.”

Jesus responded, “You have no idea what you’re asking.” And he said to James and John, “Are you capable of drinking the cup that I’m about to drink?”

They said, “Sure, why not?”

Jesus said, “Come to think of it, you are going to drink my cup. But as to awarding places of honor, that’s not my business. My Father is taking care of that.”

When the ten others heard about this, they lost their tempers, thoroughly disgusted with the two brothers. So Jesus got them together to settle things down. He said, “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”

 

Prayer

Lord our God,
your prophets remind us
in season and out of season
of our responsibilities toward you
and toward the world of people.
When they disturb and upset us,
let it be a holy disturbance
that makes us restless, eager to do your will
and to bring justice and love around us.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Do you ever want to be the greatest?

Jesus strides ahead towards Jerusalem. He knows for certain what awaits him in Jerusalem and has already spoken to his disciples about his impending torture, suffering and death. Jesus says that the religious leaders of the Jewish people, will condemn Him to death and will hand him over to the gentiles and he will be killed. Who would dare to walk up to his enemies, when he is certain that they would kill him. But, Jesus is not scared of the sufferings that awaits him.

It is a profound teaching about suffering. When we try to avoid sufferings at all costs, we will spend a lifetime running, but it will catch up with us anyway; then we will be the unwilling victims of sufferings. But when we choose to face the sufferings of our life head on, sustained by the example and the grace of Christ, we become heroes of faith.

The disciples are bent on becoming heroes in the Kingdom of Jesus. The desire of James and John to have important positions ahead of the rest of the 10 under the reign of Jesus was not well received by the 10. There was a potential threat of division among them. Jesus grabs the opportunity to give a powerful teaching on humility.
You want to be great?” says Jesus, “Then change your attitude:

• Quit thinking about how much status you have over other people.
•  Quit thinking about how much more intelligence or academic degrees you have over others.
• Quit thinking in terms of how much ability you have to manipulate and control outcomes.
• Quit thinking how high a position you hold in relation to others and how many people you can command from that position.
•  It doesn’t matter who your Daddy is, or how long you’ve been a member of the church or even how much better you could lead than the men in current leadership.”
• Without love and a heart to serve, those things are all worth nothing. (cf. 1 Cor. 13)

We see this principle illustrated in lives of the apostles later on:

The otherwise destructive energy behind the urge to be greater was to be channelled into relationships of service. Their motivation would be drawn from the example of Jesus, whom they loved and whom they chose to follow.

Greatness in God’s kingdom comes through humility and service! The Lenten season reminds us to seek humility, seek service and seek to be like Jesus. Let us challenge ourself to live out the Word of God today by finding ways to serve others.

 

Video available on Youtube: Do you ever want to be the greatest?