First Reading
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle B – 2009 Isaiah 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.
Second Reading
Hebrews 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 Cycle Cycle B
Mark 10:35-45
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.”
The clear teaching of our Lord Jesus is that if we choose to follow Him, we will suffer. This is not a popular teaching. Today we want to become fully alive without any suffering at all, if possible. It is also clear that Jesus is not teaching us to look for sufferings, but simply telling us that if we choose to follow Him, we will suffer.
The first reading, from the Prophet Isaiah, is one of those wonderful readings that speak about the suffering servant, taking on the guilt of others and justifying them. One of the great examples of this kind of suffering in recent history was Saint Maximillian Kolbe, who volunteered his life for another condemned to death in the death camp of Auschwitz. The other man survived. This is the kind of example that challenges us to ponder a bit and ask ourselves if we could do the same.
The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews today gives us a clear teaching that Jesus was fully human like us in all things except that He did not sin. Jesus is God, but truly human. Sometimes we begin to think that He is only God—or we make Him only a good human being.
The Gospel comes back to what it means to follow our Lord Jesus. What do we think of the Kingdom of God? Are we interested enough in it to even want to be part of it? In much of Christian history, those who followed Christ had enormous desires to be in the Kingdom of God. Today very few people even think about the life in the world to come. Many people believe that there is nothing beyond this life and so all of their attention is focused on getting what they want in this life.
For the Christian, there is a great value in this life, but the value is always relative to the life in the world to come. It is the choices that we make in this life that determine our life in the world to come. If we choose to love and serve others, we make a clear choice to follow the Lord Jesus. If we accept His values and His way of living as our model, we make a clear choice to follow Him.
May we live now in a way that responds to the Lord’s love for us.