The Sunday Gospel [September 23, 2012]
Mark 9:30-37
30They left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. 31He was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will rise.” 32But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.
33They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. 35Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” 36Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them, 37“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”
Reflection
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me.” ~ v. 37
It seems that we have a lot in common with the apostles. We love Jesus, they loved Jesus. We want to follow him, they followed him. We want to please him, and so did they. And like the apostles, we too are subject to human weaknesses. Today’s gospel tells us that Jesus was trying to teach the apostles, but they weren’t listening. They were arguing about who was the greatest.
We shouldn’t look down on the apostles. Like us, they had the natural human tendency to place themselves above those around them. Like us, they had the natural human tendency to think about their needs and desires more than the needs and desires of others. In other words, their hearts needed to be shaped and purified just as ours do!
When Jesus asked about the conversation, the apostles kept quiet. They knew that Jesus didn’t like these kind of senseless arguments, so they were reluctant tp own up to them. So, let’s ask ourselves: “How many times do I engage in senseless arguments? How many times have I tried to prove my point while knowing all the time that the argument was trivial?”
The apostles eventually outgrew these self- centered attitudes. They realized that they were God’s children and that they were being entrusted with God’s work. They understood that what counted most was to show people how to love God and to love one another.
As Jesus did with the apostles, he wants to do with us, He wants to show us a higher way to live. He wants to show us how noble and pleasing it is to serve others above ourselves. He wants to teach us how to avoid getting caught in senseless arguments and how to redirect our conversations so that they help promote virtue and love over envy and jealousy.
Prayer Response
Jesus, teach me how to put others ahead of myself. I want be like you, Lord.
Reflection Credits: the WORD among us
Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarroabel.blogspot.com/).
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