Tempted to take charge

The words which describe how we are to take on the example of Jesus are not complicated yet we like the disciples in the Gospel from Mark from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today have difficulty translating them into action. The letter of James identifies the tension which exists between God and the elements of the world, in the words of Friar Jude Winkler, which reject God. The path of rejection of God is a direction in which we move to satisfy our own passions and desires. We may even rationalize that power, prestige, privilege and pursuit of personal passions can be agents for good in the world. Our parsing of action into some for me and some for others tends to still place my will and my plan ahead of where God invites us to travel. How do we come to understand better? The passage from the Gospel of Mark describes, according toDon Schwager, how we refuse to hear messages like a bad diagnosis from the doctor, which are contrary to our notions and desires. The disciples desire to be with Jesus in His Kingdom. They were discussing who should hold which places of privilege in that Kingdom when Jesus brings the most needy and lowly person to the centre of the discussion as the one to be served by those who follow Jesus. Our distractions which take us on self serving missions are preventing us from living the transcendent grace of God which brings Presence in serving the least. Like Tami Whitney of Creighton University we need to join the psalmist in trust in the path offered to us by God. In the spirit of PopeFrancis exhortation on the Joy of the Gospel we need to seek the missionary attitude of seeking Christ in the people we are called to serve and concentrate less of the our grandiose plans which are not made in our humility but which tend to our power, passions, privilege and prestige.