Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Matthew 20:17-28
March 16, 2022 | Wednesday

Today’s Gospel

When Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “See, we are going to Jerusalem. There the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, and they will condemn him to death. They will hand him over to the foreigners, who will mock him, scourge him and crucify him. But he will be raised to life on the third day.”

Then the mother of James and John came to Jesus with her sons, and she knelt down, to ask a favor. Jesus said to her, “What do you want?” And she answered, “Here you have my two sons. Grant that they may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”

Jesus said to the brothers, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They answered, “We can.” Jesus replied, “You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right or at my left is not for me to grant. That will be for those, for whom my Father has prepared it.”

The other ten heard all this, and were angry with the two brothers. Then Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of nations behave like tyrants, and the powerful oppress them. It shall not be so among you: whoever wants to be great in your community, let him minister to the community. And if you want to be the first of all, make yourself the servant of all. Be like the Son of Man who came, not to be served but to serve, and to give his life to redeem many.”

Today’s Reflection:

In today’s gospel, Jesus shares with His friends His troubles on the impending sufferings that He will endure for His salvific mission. He also shares these to prepare them for the dangers that await them if they choose to continually follow him. But just when Jesus shares about emptying and sacrificing oneself, it turns out that the attention of the apostles is on its exact opposite – egoism, self-glorification and accumulation of power. Imagine the disappointment and sadness in the eyes of Jesus from the responses and behaviors of his closest friends. Jesus’ reaction and words in the Gospel are the same things that He wishes to emphasize whenever a Christian is disillusioned that life is about winning prestige and accumulation of power and wealth. /Vulnerasti, 2022