By Fr. Francis Gonsalves, SJ-
29th Sunday of the Year – Cycle B
Readings: Isa 53:10-11; Heb 4:14-16; Mk 10:35-45
“The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45)
Three Scriptural Signposts:
1. The first reading from the Fourth Servant Oracle—running from Isa 52:13 up to Isa 53:12—presents a portrait of ‘God’s suffering servant’ who suffers not for his own sins but for the sins of others. The idea of expiatory, vicarious suffering, which was very alive in the Hebraic religion, is clearly expressed in these two verses. The previous verse (53:9) makes it clear that God’s servant is suffering: “although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth”. Though he suffers, yet there is much hope in the reading since “his sufferings shall justify many” as he will be “taking their faults on himself.”
2. Today’s gospel passage from Mark, chapter 10, comes soon after Jesus has already spoken thrice to his disciples about his passion and death as they journey towards Jerusalem (8:3138; 9:30-32; 10:32-34). For Jesus, Jerusalem is the place of his passion and death; but his disciples seem more engrossed in the enticements of power and position. The ‘right hand’ and ‘left hand’ are simply positions of power in what they hoped would be Jesus’ kingly court, and do not indicate seats in heaven, for the disciples did not expect Jesus to be crucified, much less to rise from the dead. Note that the request for a ‘favour’ comes from James and John, two of Jesus’ closest disciples. Moreover, the two seem to be using ‘family influence’ since they were, what we often call in India, ‘cousin-brothers’ of Jesus. In fact, in the parallel passage, evangelist Matthew tells us that they made their request through their mother (20:20), Salome. Either Zebedee, their father or Salome, their mother, was closely related either to Mary or Joseph.
3. In answer to their request for seats and positions of power, Jesus asks them whether they will be able “to drink the cup which I drink” and “to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized.” Jesus refers to a ‘cup of suffering’ and the ‘waters of sorrow’, which are First Testament figures of speech. Even when James and John say, “Yes,” Jesus tells them that the future lies entirely with Abba, his Father. Then, he explains to them that he, the Messiah, would be the ‘suffering servant’ described in the first reading, one who would serve, suffer and sacrifice to the point of “offering his life as a ransom for many”—once again pointing out to the expiatory, vicarious death, which would be the atonement for the sins of his brothers and sisters.
Possible Link of the 2nd Reading to the Theme:
It is not difficult to draw a connection between the 2nd reading—from the Letter to the Hebrews— and the theme of the 1st and 3rd readings: namely, the idea of a suffering, servant-Messiah, who is our supreme high priest. While the high priest of the Temple of Jerusalem and the old covenant was distinguished by his distancing himself from the common people in order to remain ‘pure’, so to say, to offer the sacrifice of animals worthily, our high priest, Jesus, becomes one in solidarity with us by his incarnation. He then offers his very self, his own blood as atonement for sin thereby establishing a New Covenant which is personal, internal, irrevocable and universal.
Three Texts from Tradition:
1. St. Augustine (354-430 AD) in ‘The City of God’ on suffering as time of testing: “Though good and bad men suffer alike, we must not suppose that there is no difference between the men themselves, because there is no difference in what they both suffer. For even in the likeness of the sufferings, there remains an unlikeness in the sufferers; and though exposed to the same anguish, virtue and vice are not the same thing. For as the same fire causes gold to glow brightly, and chaff to smoke; and under the same flail the straw is beaten small, while the grain is cleansed; and as the lees are not mixed with the oil, though squeezed out of the vat by the same pressure, so the same violence of affliction proves, purges, clarifies the good, but damns, ruins, exterminates the wicked. And thus, it is that in the same affliction the wicked detest God and blaspheme, while the good pray and praise.”
2. St. Pope John Paul II in ‘Redemptoris Missio’ (1990) on the need for new evangelization: “God is opening before the Church the horizons of a humanity more fully prepared for the sowing of the Gospel. I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church’s energies to a new evangelization and to the mission ad gentes. No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples.”
3. Pope Francis’s Message for World Mission Sunday 2018 (especially addressed to the Youth): “Every man and woman is a mission; that is the reason for our life on this earth. To be attracted and to be sent are two movements that our hearts, especially when we are young, feel as interior forces of love; they hold out promise for our future and they give direction to our lives…… The ends of the earth, dear young people, nowadays are quite relative and always easily ‘navigable’. The digital world – the social networks that are so pervasive and readily available – dissolves borders, eliminates distances and reduces differences. Everything appears within reach, so close and immediate. And yet lacking the sincere gift of our lives, we could well have countless contacts but never share in a true communion of life. To share in the mission to the ends of the earth demands the gift of oneself in the vocation that God, who has placed us on this earth, chooses to give us.”
Two Current Concerns:
(a) The word ‘mission’ has been purposely misinterpreted in the public sphere, today, by those who want us to stop being missionaries. But, every Christian is necessarily a missionary.
(b) We are called to be a missionary church—ready to go forth, serve, suffer with others, and even give our lives as ‘sacrifice’ with Christ.
(c) The time is ripe for the Indian Church to be a ‘suffering servant’ of God …. It is already suffering in many parts of India!
A point to ponder about:
When some parishioners praised a priest for the power he wielded over others, the wise Guruji commented, “This priest is no religious leader.” The people protested, “What, then, is his function?” The Guruji replied, “To inspire, not to legislate; to awaken, not to coerce; to love, not to regulate; to serve, not to be served.”
Fr. Francis Gonsalves is a Gujarat Jesuit, former Principal of Vidyajyoti College, Delhi, and currently Dean of Theology at Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune. He is also the Executive Secretary of the CCBI Commission for Theology and Doctrine. He has authored many books and articles and is a columnist with The Asian Age and The Deccan Chronicle national dailies.