It is amazing sometimes how folks will ask a question without giving a thought as to its impact on others—or the demands an answer may place on them. Trial lawyers live by an important rule: “Never ask a question for which you do not know the answer.” James and John should have been better “prepared” to question the Lord in today’s gospel. Jesus’ response “You do not know what you are asking,” put them in their place—or perhaps made them at least think more deeply about the question being asked.
Often times, when it comes to faith, we do not know what we are asking. Sometimes we might even have the wrong take on a religious or spiritual question, partly due to the fact that our starting point isn’t based on truth but rather comes from an opinion (or what is commonly called today “my truth”)? Or we may be confused about what is being considered. None the less, as we have heard in the last few gospels, Wisdom—obtaining Truth and Knowledge—is a key starting point of faith.
Questions we often pose might originate from ambition, or maybe from service or even curiosity—but the font of our religious or spiritual questioning should start with the nature of true greatness in the Kingdom of God, in other words Wisdom.
Scripture scholars tell us that James and John’s request to sit at the Lord’s right hand in the Kingdom is part and parcel of the desire for authority. Something quite natural in the human condition and even in faith itself. In Catholic theology, this is considered a direct challenge to the virtues of humility and selflessness. Jesus uses this opportunity of James’ and John’s question to teach (Jesus’ response) His disciples about the nature of the kind of leadership He plans to role m odel. That while worldly “greatness” is to be in charge of others, the Kingdom’s take on leadership is service, and for Christ Himself it is a Suffering Servanthood. Servanthoodis further defined in versus 43-45 when He states, “Whoever wants to be become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.” Catholic social teaching acknowledges the dignity of every human person and the call to serve those in need. And who is our role model? Jesus Himself. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” This is agape, Divine love, a self-giving and unconditional love, which is illustrated in the hoped-for love between husband and wife: where the two become one, and they each seek the excellence of the other. It is a love that endures when the going gets tough—for richer, for poorer, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. Finally, our gospel today also is a call to discipleship. This passage in the gospel challenges each of us to the consideration of how we can all embody the values of service and humility and thus lift up our communities, our families and our Church. This is the point of our minimum of 25 hours of service in our Conformation program. The service of others—the hours—is not to be seen as a goal to obtain and be finished with, but rather is to be understood as a new way of life. How can I be Christ in the world around me? Is it in making a few sandwiches each month for the homeless or in preparing a meal via Comitas to a parishioner in need, or is it in the ministries of Feed the Hungry, Pantry Partners, St. Elizabeth House or in the service to the people of the Knights of Malta? The answer is Yes! And it is also in the care and support we offer to the lonely neighbor down the street, to a sibling who is hurting, or a friend or stranger in need. It is in the big, the small, the simple—and any act of kindness bestowed.
So how do we begin all this? It begins with just doing it. No training required. Just a commitment to God, a simple “yes,” and then do it. It is catchy, and it will make you feel good about yourself because it is our “divine” nature. So, let us look at the original question a little more deeply and personally, being asked of us by God: What have you done for me lately