The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the difficult response of the world to prophetic messages and our challenge to be in service to people carrying our cross as Jesus shows.
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| Prophets and problems |
The reading from the Prophet Jeremiah reveals a plot against Jeremiah and a prayer for vengeance.
Must good be repaid with evilthat they should dig a pit to take my life?1
The psalmist feels overwhelmed by evil people but trusts in the “God of truth”.
* [Psalm 31] A lament (Ps 31:2–19) with a strong emphasis on trust (Ps 31:4, 6, 15–16), ending with an anticipatory thanksgiving (Ps 31:20–24). As is usual in laments, the affliction is couched in general terms. The psalmist feels overwhelmed by evil people but trusts in the “God of truth” (Ps 31:6).2
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus foretells His Death and Resurrection and teaches us to be servants in His response to the request of the mother of James and John.
* [20:20–28] Cf. Mk 10:35–45. The request of the sons of Zebedee, made through their mother, for the highest places of honor in the kingdom, and the indignation of the other ten disciples at this request, show that neither the two brothers nor the others have understood that what makes for greatness in the kingdom is not lordly power but humble service. Jesus gives the example, and his ministry of service will reach its highest point when he gives his life for the deliverance of the human race from sin.3
Gladyce Janky quotes Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, February 4, 1968 .“...If you want to say I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all the other shallow things will not matter.”
We do not know Jesus’ inner response to this request. Perhaps it was similar to Jeremiah’s plea to God found in today’s first reading. Did Jesus silently cry out to his Father, “Here I am, Father, laboring on their behalf, offering all that I am. These are my beloved friends and family, the people that should know me. I just told them I am going to die, but they are still focused on things of this life (shallow things), rather than on You. Will they ever open their hearts, minds, and eyes to see what is most important? When will they learn?”
Here we are, some two thousand years later, and it seems we have not yet learned where to direct our focus. If we had, there would not be a need for leaders like Dr. King, Jr. to remind us we should not be drawn to “shallow things.” For me, this sounds very much like St. Ignatius of Loyola’s teaching on disordered attachments, which is anything that we put ahead of our relationship with God. Fortunately, we have resources available to us, such as the Daily Examen, that can help us identify our disordered attachments or the “shallow things” that draw us away from God.4
Don Schwager quotes “Do you wish to be great?” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Do you wish to be great? Then begin from what is slightest. Do you plan to construct a high and mighty building? Then think first about the foundation of humility. When people plan to erect a lofty and large building, they make the foundations all the deeper. But those who lay the foundation are forced to descend into the depths." (excerpt from Sermon 69, 2)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 20:17-28 comments that Jesus’ example shows us that at its heart, service is a way we express love.
When we serve instead of demanding to be served, we give Jesus the opening to shape our hearts so that we can become more like him. We also continue his work of ushering in the kingdom of heaven on earth—because it is through our loving service that we reflect God’s love to the people around us and give witness to the gospel.
You probably already serve in numerous ways. But ask yourself, “How does my service express my love for the people in my life? What do my demeanor and tone of voice toward them reveal about the way I view Jesus’ call to serve? Is there a way I can show more compassion or be more consistent?” There’s always room for improvement! There’s always room to increase your view of service as a privilege and not a burden.6
Friar Jude Winkler discusses the rejection of the message of repentance preached by Jeremiah. The request of the Mother of James and John was an inappropriate application of the desire for privilege associated with spiritual leadership. Friar Jude reminds us that desire for privilege is opposed to our call to die to ourselves.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, uses the Enneagram to explore the group with Holy Idea: Holy Omniscience, Holy Transparency Virtue: Detachment and Passion: Avarice.
Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson write about the emergence of Essence in the Five:
The Five’s drive for knowledge and mastery is the personality’s attempt to re-create an Essence quality that we might call clarity or inner knowing. With clarity comes the Essential quality of nonattachment, which is not emotional repression or detachment but the lack of identification with any particular point of view. Fives understand that any position or idea is useful only in a very limited set of circumstances, perhaps only in the unique set of circumstances in which it arose. Inner guidance allows them to flow from one way of seeing things to another without getting fixated on any of them. [2]7
Our struggle to follow Jesus in service and die to ourselves is assisted by people in our lives who are disposed to listen and advise based on great attachment to exploring Divine Omniscience.
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