Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Greatness Through Service
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. Peter reminds his audience that they have the obligation to live up to their baptism. For they have been reborn at the expense of the blood of Christ, who also rose for them.
Gospel. The Gospel tells us that the great God will save people through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came as a servant of all. Those who follow Jesus must, like him, learn to serve, and learn to serve even at the cost of pain.
Opening Prayer
God, Lord of all,
Your Son Jesus was your equal
And yet he made himself our brother and servant.
May his Spirit be alive in us
and dispose us to become, like your Son,
powerless and vulnerable,
so that we can serve one another,
especially the weakest of our brothers and sisters.
In this way may people experience
How bold you make your love.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
First Reading
Remember that you were freed from the empty way of life handed down from your ancestors, not with gold or silver,
but with the precious blood of Christ, the spotless and pure Lamb.
He was destined before creating the world, but was revealed to you in these last days.
Through him, you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him so that your faith and hope may be in God alone.
By following the truth, you have achieved inner purification, which leads to genuine love for others. Love each other sincerely, with all your heart,
since you are born again, not from mortal things, but through eternal life, by the living and enduring word of God.
As it is written: All flesh is like grass, and its glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord endures forever. This is the good news that has been proclaimed to you.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man came to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Third Announcement of the Passion and Resurrection
They were traveling on the road to Jerusalem, with Jesus walking ahead. The Twelve felt anxious, and those following were afraid. Once again, Jesus pulled the Twelve aside to explain what was going to happen to him:
“You see, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and deliver him to the Gentiles
who will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him; but three days later he will rise.”
Against Ambition
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus and said:
“Master, we want you to grant us what we are about to ask.”
And he replied:
“What do you want me to do for you?”
They answered:
“Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left when you come in your glory.”
Jesus said to them:
“You don’t know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink, or be baptized in the way I am baptized?”
They answered:
“We can.”
Jesus told them:
“The cup that I drink, you will drink; and you will be baptized in the way that I am baptized;
but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant. It has been prepared for others.”
Hearing this, the other ten were angry with James and John.
Jesus then called them to him and said:
“As you know, the so-called rulers of the nations behave like tyrants, and those in authority oppress the people.
But it shall not be so among you; whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
and whoever would be first among you shall make a slave to all.
Think of the Son of Man who has not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life to redeem many.”
Prayers of the Faithful
– For those in authority in the Church, that they may not become functionaries but be “ministers,” that is, servants, we pray:
– For our Christian families, that by their mutual care and service parents may prepare their children to render service to others, we pray:
– For the many who serve us in various ways to provide us with the things and help we need – servants, drivers, nurses, technicians and so many others, too many to name – that we may be grateful and kind to them, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
as your Son serves us himself at table
in the signs of bread and wine,
He asks us to drink with him
the cup of self-sacrificing love.
Let your Son fill us with that love
which alone can understand
That to be great is to serve others
and to use up our lives
to give people a chance to live and be free.
May we seek no other reward
than to share the destiny of Jesus,
our Lord and Savior for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Loving Father,
your Son has been with us
in this eucharistic celebration
as the servant of us all.
Let him dispose our hearts
and give us his courage
to understand and accept others,
to accompany them on the road of life,
to suffer their pains,
to rejoice with their joys
and to carry each other’s burdens,
that he may be with us
now and forever.
Blessing
We, too, are here to serve rather than to be served. It is not an easy task. Spare others by not sparing yourself. May Almighty God bless you for this, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Mark 10:32-45
Fr. Paulo Morlachi was an Italian Missionary who served as a hospital chaplain in Hong Kong for many decades. A motor accident in his youth almost crippled him, and he has walked with difficulty ever since. But that did not stop him from visiting many hospitals every day without fail, attending to patients and administering the sacraments. He was old, limping, and was not fluent in the local language, but even years after his death, many people in Hong Kong remember him with affection for the comfort and peace he brought into their lives when they needed it most.
But today we live in a world where we want to stand out above others and prefer to be in places of honour and recognition. In the Gospel today, we have James and John requesting the Lord to consider them for the top position when the Lord establishes his Kingdom. Jesus gives them a beautiful catechesis: "whoever wants to be great, let him be your servant and whoever wants to be first, be the slave of all."
Fortunately, there are great people among us, as Jesus asks us to be. They never appear in the media, and nobody gives them recognition. They may not have academic qualifications, nor do they possess much wealth, but they do have something that is worth more than material goods: kindness, tenderness and compassion for those in need. Men and women who walk through our streets, simple and ordinary people, but who are found at the right moment when you need a word of encouragement, a friendly look, a happy smile, a favour ...
Good parents who take time, even if they come tired from the day's work, to listen to the thousand and one questions of their little children, who enjoy their games and discover the best of life with them. Tireless mothers who fill their homes with love and joy; women who are priceless, because they know how to give their children what they need most at every moment; Spouses who are maturing their love day by day, learning to give in, generously taking care of the happiness of the other, forgiving each other in the thousand little frictions of life.
These are the ones who make life more pleasant and the world more liveable. Jesus said of them that they are “great” because they live at the service of others and help them to live with hope and joy.
In the desert of this world, where only rivalry and confrontation seem to grow, they are small oases where friendship, trust and mutual help sprout. They may never receive a tribute or even a word of thanks, but these men and women - "an uncountable crowd" as Revelation says - are great because they are human.
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Mark 10:32-45
Share the richness of God’s Word
In today's Gospel, Jesus and his apostles are on their way to Jerusalem, and there is a sense of anxiety in the air. Jesus shares with the Twelve the events that are about to unfold - that he will be betrayed, condemned, mocked, spat upon, flogged, and ultimately killed, but he will rise again.
To the surprise of many, James and John approached Jesus and requested to have positions of prominence in the future. This request was considered inappropriate by many. However, Jesus used this moment as an opportunity to teach them a valuable lesson.
"What significance do temporal places of honour have when compared to the incomparable eternal honour that has already been bestowed upon us? The teachings of God encourage humility and gratitude rather than seeking prestige and status. When running a good race, it makes no sense to step off the track and run in reverse.”
Jesus defines His mission and His life: “For the Son of man Himself came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
What is sorely needed in our time is good catechesis. Even many well-educated professionals still have only an elementary understanding of their faith. The Word of God is so rich. How anxious we should be to share it with all the world! Like St. Paul we should be telling ourselves, “Woe to me if I do not preach.”
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Mark shows us an emotional Jesus Jesus sighs deeply in the spirit (7:34; 8:12); he was moved with compassion (6:34), he was angry (3:5; 8:33; 10:14), he loved the rich young man (see Feb. 28); also he was tired and wanted to rest (6:31); and he was hungry (11:12). Mark shows other people too just as they were. In today’s passage, the sons of Zebedee are seen in a rather unflattering light. These, mind you, are going to be the great apostles, James and John. But here they are, asking a question just as crude as Peter’s question yesterday. They are asking for important places in the Kingdom (in politics it is known as ‘jobs for the boys’). But Matthew (20:20) edits the story and has their mother make the embarrassing request! Mothers!—what they have to put up with!
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Mark 10:32-15
By Rolnd J. Faley
It is worth taking a little time today to examine the rich imagery used by Peter to describe what God has done for us in Christ. First of all, we have been bought at a dear price, redeemed from a life of utter futility. No sum of silver or gold has been paid for us, but we are redeemed by the blood of a most precious lamb. This is the lamb chosen by God from all eternity but only revealed in these final days. This is the lamb raised from the dead and given glory.
In accepting this teaching (“obedience to the truth”), we have been born into a community of love. We are born not of a human seed, one that is limited in time and duration, but by the indestructible seed that is the word of God. This is a word that will not pass away, unlike the glories of humanity, which will vanish like the vegetation of the field. This word that has been preached to us is a saving word that will not pass away.
All of this makes the self-aggrandizing aspirations of the apostles in today’s Gospel even more foolish. What do temporal places of honor mean in comparison with the incomparable eternal honor that has already been conferred? The word of God teaches humility and gratitude, not prestige and status. In running the good race, what is the sense of getting off the track and running in reverse?
What is sorely needed in our time is good catechesis. Even many well-educated professionals still have only an elementary or high school understanding of their faith. Our scriptures are so rich. How anxious should we be to share them?
Bought at a great price
The word of God: indestructible seed
The dignity of the Christian life
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