Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Osmond Anike

Readings:

First Reading: Isaiah 53:10-11 – If he offers his life in atonement, what the Lord wishes will be done.

Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 32(33):4-5,18-20,22 – May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.

Second Reading: Hebrews 4:14-16 – Our high priest is one who has been tempted in every way that we are.

Gospel: Mark 10:35-45 – The Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many.

Could Jesus have undercut his own teaching? In Matthew 7:7, he bids us ask and we shall receive. But in the Gospel of today, James and John, the Zebedee brothers, ventured to ask, and instead of receiving, they got a rather rude and awakening reply for an answer: “You do not know what you are asking”. Well, a careful examination of the content of their request shows that Jesus did not undercut his earlier injunction in Matthew to ask and we shall receive. The point is that James and John did not actually know the implications of their request. In fact, they simply did not know what they were asking for. And this is also true of our prayer life: We do not know what we are asking. There is this story told by Anthony de Mello of a devotee who spent night and day in constant prayer and petition. One day God appeared to him and said, “I am sick and tired of your constant petitions. I have decided to grant you any three things you ask for. After that, I shall grant you nothing more”. Without thinking for a second, the devotee said that he wanted his wife to die so that he could marry a better woman. God told him to consider it done; and the wife ultimately died. During the burial ceremonies, however, a lot of family members and friends gathered for the eulogies and exalted the qualities of the woman. Nobody said anything but positive things concerning the woman. The husband, who was listening to all those eulogies, had a rethink of mind. He said to himself that maybe he had been so blind to the qualities of his wife. He considered whether he would be able to find another woman with such qualities. He then promptly asked God to bring her back to life. This was done. And that left him with only one more request. He thought deeply about what he would request from God. He did not want to make another hasty request as he did in the case of his wife. He therefore consulted far and wide for advice. Some said he should ask for immortality. Others questioned the useful of immortality if he had no good health; and consequently told him to ask for good health. Still others asked what he would do with good health if he had no money to enjoy life. They therefore advised him to ask for wealth. Years past and he had not yet decided on what to ask for. One day God appeared to him walking in the garden and questioned why he had not yet made his third and final request. It was then that the devotee pleaded with God and said: “I don’t know what to ask for. Please could you help me”? God laughed very loudly and said to him, “Well, I will help you. Ask to be contented no matter what you have”.

What particularly are your inner desires and secret prayers? Think of this concretely. Forget about what you utter from your mouth for people to hear (you know, sometimes I get the impression that when some people pray, it is not God they are addressing but rather people around them. This explains why they boast aloud in order to let those around them know righteous they are). Irrespective of what comes out of your mouth when you pray, what, concretely and secretly, are you desiring and craving for? James and John vowed not to be contented until they became commissioners. To have been called by Jesus was not enough for them. How could they be on the same level with the rest of the apostles? they thought. After all, since they were sons of thunder, they were certainly born to rule. It was, therefore, their right to be placed above all the other apostles. But since Jesus appeared not to have gotten the point, they then decided to put the request directly to him. Jesus, however, used the occasion to give us a teaching on the meaning of leadership. For Jesus, as it should be for us, true leadership is that of service and not that of lordship. This was precisely why he told the Zebedee brothers that they did not know what they were asking. Had they known that occupying the right and left seats beside Jesus is not a goldmine but rather, “degeneration” into servanthood, I am certain that they wouldn’t have made that request. Surely, they were not requesting to become servants, or, as Jesus put it, to become “slaves to all”. They were rather requesting to become masters.

Today, as it was during the time of Jesus, there are so many “sons and daughters of thunder” who have elected not to be happy until they occupy the right and left seats in high places of honour. When you build your happiness on the acquisition of power, you are bound to be sad for ever. This is because, even when you acquire such power, there are always higher positions waiting to be acquired; and the quests to get the new positions go on with no fulfilling end in view. No wonder most of the people who are obsessed with power are at the same time some of the most miserable and unhappy set of people. It is because people do not know the meaning of leadership that they struggle for it. If you are eying a position of leadership, you should ask yourself whether you understand it as a position of service; a position, not of lordship but of servanthood. And, as a position of servanthood, look at what the prophet Isaiah said about God’s servants in the first reading: “The Lord has been pleased to crush his servant with suffering…” And again, “By his sufferings shall my servant justify many…” This was the reason why Jesus asked James and John whether they could drink the cup that he must drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which he must be baptised. In other words, he was asking them whether they are prepared to undergo the same suffering that he was to undergo. Therefore, sitting at the right and left hands of Jesus implies suffering tremendously. This was where the Zebedee brothers got it all wrong. And this is where most of us still get it all wrong.

Brothers and sisters, many people are willing to occupy positions of authority, but very few are prepared to serve. Many seek public recognitions; few are ready to suffer. Many demand to be honoured; few accept to be derided. But, as a Christian, what is important is not the position you occupy; what is important is to have been called by Jesus to follow him. When you faithfully follow Jesus, every other thing is immaterial. Never allow your happiness to depend on the attainment of your desperately desired position of authority because you will always be disappointed. Happiness comes from within and not from the fulfilment of your desires.