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29th Sunday in Ordinary Time
October 18, 2009
Reading 1
Is 53:10-11
The LORD was pleased to crush him in infirmity. If he
gives his life as an offering for sin, he shall see his
descendants in a long life, and the will of the LORD
shall be accomplished through him. Because of his
affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days;
through his suffering, my servant shall justify many,
and their guilt he shall bear.
Responsorial Psalm
Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22
R. (22)Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our
trust in you.
Upright is the word of the LORD,
and all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right;
of the kindness of the LORD the earth is full.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our
trust in you.
See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him,
upon those who hope for his kindness,
To deliver them from death
and preserve them in spite of famine.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our
trust in you.
Our soul waits for the LORD,
who is our help and our shield.
May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us
who have put our hope in you.
R. Lord, let your mercy be on us, as we place our
trust in you.
Reading II
Heb 4:14-16
Brothers and sisters: Since we have a great high priest
who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of
God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not
have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in
every way, yet without sin. So let us confidently
approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to
find grace for timely help.
Gospel
Mk 10:35-45 or 10:42-45
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and
said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever
we ask of you." He replied, "What do you wish me to do
for you?" They answered him, "Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your
left." Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are
asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be
baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
They said to him, "We can." Jesus said to them, "The cup
that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with
which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared." When
the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and
John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them, "You know that
those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them, and their great ones make their
authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among
you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will
be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you
will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not
come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a
ransom for many."
HOMILY:
Once I visited a home and there I found a man working in
the kitchen. I asked him about his job. He said that he
was working for a bank and now it was his turn to cook
that day. Well, I asked what about his wife? He said
that she was with his kids went shopping and they would
return by evening for dinner. He told me that he was
away the whole week and would get only evening to be
with his family. He thought that it would be nice to
send his wife and children shopping on Sundays and he
would cook to keep himself in touch with his family,
food and with his feeling with the family members. I was
surprised at the wisdom of the man. Here he was helping
himself to be family after his whole weekś work in the
bank. To be first we need to learn to be last. That is
the lesson Jesus gives us all. The disciples were
fighting to be first, even in the Kingdom of heaven. But
Jesus answers that it was the prerogative of the Father
to give that place.
She was born in 1910 in Macedonia. Her family belonged
to the Albanian community. When she was baptized she was
given the name Agnes. In 1928, at the age of 18 she
decided she wanted to be a missionary for India and
decided to join the Sisters of Our Lady of Loreto. She
came to their mother house in Dublin where she learned
to speak English and took the name Sister Teresa after
St Teresa of Avila, the patroness of missionaries. Early
the following year, 1929, she arrived in India where she
completed her training. She had been sent to Calcutta to
study to become a teacher. The children quickly grew to
love her and used to call her “Ma.” Her work was
teaching history and geography. Eight years later in
1937 she made her final vows.
Sister Teresa felt she was receiving a second call, to
leave the convent and live with the poorest of the poor.
After a long wait, eventually in 1948 she received
permission to leave the Loreto community provided that
she kept her vows. She exchanged the Loreto habit for
the cheap white and blue sari. First she went to Patna
to get medical training as a nurse. Back in Calcutta she
went to work in the slums in the streets, to talk with
the poor and help them. During this time she was staying
with the Sisters of the Poor. The following year, 1949,
seven girls joined her in her work. During that year
also, Sr Teresa received Indian nationality. In 1950 she
got approval for the foundation of the Congregation of
the Missionary Sisters of Charity. There were 12 sisters
then. She needed a house for her work and bought a house
which has become the mother house of her congregation.
She won many awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in
1979. On September 5th 1997 Mother Teresa died. Fifty
years after the foundation of the Congregation there
were 3000 Sisters working in over 500 missions in 100
countries.
St. Mark’s gospel has its own distinct focus into the
life of Christ. It is like the other gospels in that it
is all about Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.
But, it is also distinctly Markan. It is Holy Scripture
divinely written and Communicated by the power of the
Holy Spirit, and yet distinct to its earthly author,
Mark, at the same time. Perhaps Mark emphasized some
things that were needed for the church to hear. We can
surmise that Mark may be thinking of his own weaknesses
when he emphasizes certain things in his gospel. For
example, we learn in Acts 15 that Paul and Barnabas were
ready to travel to more regions to preach. We are told
that Barnabas wanted to take with them John called
Mark. This is the evangelist. But Acts 15 records that
Paul did not want to take Mark because he had withdrawn
from them in Pamphylia and would not continue on the
mission.
This became such a contentious situation that Paul and
Barnabas even parted ways. There is also something
unique when Jesus was arrested. Mark’s gospel points out
that there was a young man who followed Jesus when he
was arrested. The guards tried to seize the young man
and they grabbed hold of his linen garment, but he
escaped, running naked. Church history claims that this
was Mark. These things being the case, we see that Mark
was a bit timid and unsure. He had a difficult time
doing what he should have done for the gospel.
Perhaps Mark’s own sin and weakness colors certain
emphases in his gospel. One of the things that makes
Mark’s gospel somewhat unique is how time and time
again, people are told to do things, but they do the
opposite or they completely misunderstand. For example,
Mark’s gospel is the only one of the gospels that
records the women at the empty tomb departing in fear
and telling no one for a time.
Our gospel for today focuses in on two disciples who
want to do just the opposite of what they should do.
What stands out in Mark’s gospel is chapter 8:34. Jesus
says, “If any man would come after me, let him deny
himself, and pick up his cross and follow me. For
whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever
loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save
it.” This is the crux of the gospel, yet we see over
and over again in the gospel how the disciples and
others actually fail to properly pick up their cross and
follow Jesus.
We see people more concerned with saving their lives,
rather than losing their lives for Christ’s and the
gospel’s sake. This is exactly what is happening in the
gospel for today. James and John, sons of Zebedee make
a request to Jesus. Matthew says that they have their
mother make the request. Mark gets to the heart of it,
because its’ really James and John who want it. “Grant
us to sit, one at your right hand and another at your
left in your glory.”
This comes right after another one of Jesus’ passion
predictions. Jesus foretold his death and resurrection.
James and John let sinful ambitions get the better of
them. They were probably thinking that if all this was
really going down, then they better get there ducks in a
row. After all, there is always a certain pecking order
of sorts, so they thought they would try to show some
initiative and leadership. They wanted to be co-rulers
and co-heirs with Jesus in glory.
Did they really understand heaven or the kingdom? They
didn’t know what they were asking, because to sit with
Jesus in glory was to put themselves equal to Jesus.
Jesus understood these two brothers, and He knew that
they didn’t really know what they were asking. Jesus
asks them a question which could be taken a couple of
ways. Jesus asks, “Are you able to drink the chalice
that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism that I
am to be baptized with?” They correctly answer yes, but
they meant something different than Jesus. Christ’s
chalice, or, cup, was the cup of suffering. Christ’s
baptism was a baptism in His own blood. James and John
could not go there. They were sinners. They could not
redeem mankind from sin. Only Jesus could do that. But
Jesus says to them, “you are correct, the chalice that I
drink, you will drink and the baptism that I am baptized
with, you will be baptized with.” But Jesus meant this
by means of transferrable. Christ’s cup and baptism
consisted of His cross. His cup was His pain and
suffering and the Father’s removal of Himself from Jesus
on the cross. James and John would participate in this
cup and baptism through the sacraments which were
instituted. The reason is simple. Jesus instituted the
sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper because
His merits won on the cross are poured into the
sacraments. Therefore, when James and John would later
gather around an altar with the church and participate
in these sacraments, they would drink the cup of Christ
and be baptized with His baptism. James and John
resemble us. We want to be lords, every one of us. We
want to be heard, we want the glory. It is this way in
the church. Get a bunch of people together in the
church and you can bet that there will be some
problems. Sin is selfish. Adam and Eve wanted to be
like God. This is how sin entered the world. They took
of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil because
they wanted something that was not theirs to have.
Satan is the same way.
James and John wanted what was not theirs to have. The
rest of the disciples were angry at the brothers’
request and rightly so. But Peter was no different and
neither are you. Who rules the church? Who sits with
Jesus? Who deserves to sit with Jesus? This way of
thinking and practicing one’s life will destroy faith
and the church. This is why Jesus follows up by saying,
“whoever would be first among you, must be slave of
all; For the Son of Man came not to be served but to
serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
The Beatitudes speak the same way. Therein lies the
pattern. The greatest of the saints are the humble. It
is often the quiet ones, the prayerful ones who do the
most for the kingdom. It is the gentle and lowly who
are the greatest. Why? Is it some great act that they
perform? No. It is because they trust in the Lord and
take their problems and the problems of the church to
the humblest and greatest, Jesus Christ. This theme
runs all throughout the book of Proverbs. I often think
of Proverbs 22:3, “A prudent man seeks danger and hides
himself; but the simple go on and are punished.”
There is much to this and this is what Jesus is
discussing. The nature and character of the church is
to do what St. Paul says, “to lead a quiet and peaceable
life, godly and respectful in every way”(1 Tim 2:2). To
the Thessalonians Paul says, “But we exhort you,
brethren, to aspire to live quietly, to mind your own
affairs, and to work with your hands, as we charged
you…”(1 Thess. 4:11).
The gospel indicates that it is Christ’s will that the
church not be like the world. The world is full of
rulers. The church is the gathering of the humble
servants of Christ. Prayer on our lips, forgiveness
ready when there is repentance, and love that overflows.
You cannot do this on your own, however. We enter this
beautiful body of Christ through baptism, but we enter
with sins. Repent of them, all of them.
Jesus forgives you of your sins. He died on the cross
and was the only true servant that this world has ever
seen, and He did it for the sins of the world, even your
sins. To become a peaceful, quiet Christian and then
Church takes the Holy Spirit’s leading through the word
and sacraments. It can be done. Jesus must do the
leading and the following. This is why we drink of His
cup and pick up our crosses and follow Jesus through
Holy Baptism. The love of Christ and the merits of His
cross make your soul and this church a beautiful, quiet,
pleasant place that gives us a brief respite from the
world while we sojourn on this pilgrimage. Amen.
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