Our humble Shepherd breaks and shares with us!

Our humble Shepherd breaks and shares with us!

Mark's gospel has three prophecies of action and reaction. The first reaction is Christological (Mark 8:31-38). Peter fails to understand how the anointed could suffer and die. Last Sunday, we heard this first prophecy – Peter rebuked Jesus. The second and third reactions are about discipleship. Disciples are thinking about what is in it for them.

This Sunday’s Gospel is the second prophecy (Mk 9:30-37). On one side, Jesus continues his ministry of secrecy and keeping a low profile. On the other side, “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise” (Mk 9:31). In the book Daniel talks about the Son of Man - “I saw coming with the clouds of heaven One like a son of man” (7:13). Even though we name the Gospel passage narrated as passion prediction, Jesus links the crucifixion and the glory of Easter morning and Easter Sunday. Jesus is taking an image of messianic glory from the Old Testament Book of Daniel and uniting it to an image of suffering and death to predict his passion. The disciples could not understand what those words could mean, but they were afraid to ask questions.

The first reading from the book Wisdom is in chapter 2. The first reading (2:12,17-20) compliments the Gospel passage on passion perdition. This is a mysterious text about a suffering righteous man, a    suffering servant, who isn't just called a servant but is called the Son of God. Since ancient times, this text has been interpreted as a kind of prophecy of the Messiah, a prophecy of Christ. The entire chapter 2 is   similar to what we see of Christ in the New Testament.

Despite all the signs Christ had provided and privileged instructions he had given, the disciples were still not reconciled with his imminent Passion and Death on the Cross. They would only understand completely with the infusion of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

The second reading is in tune with the second part of the Gospel – the dispute among the apostles about who is the greatest. False wisdom is rooted in pride, whereas true wisdom is humble, merciful, serene, and sincere. James warns us that selfish ambitions destroy peace and cause conflicts and war. Greed, pride, and disordered attachment to things of the world are the leading causes of conflict among     people. So, James advises us to choose the path of righteousness and humble service, which leads to lasting peace. He is emphatic about the contrast between spiritual wisdom and earthly wisdom.

In the first part of the Gospel, Jesus repeats the second time about his passion, death, and resurrection: “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men, and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” They were afraid to ask Jesus a question about it, but they were arguing about the question, “Who was the greatest?”

Christ offered a lesson on servant leadership and collaboration in ministry. The two conditions of true greatness to which Jesus called us are humility and service. This calling, vocation, to humble, loving  service belongs to the Church as a whole and to every member of the Church individually. Mother Teresa says, “The fruit of silence is prayer, the fruit of prayer is faith, the fruit of faith is love, the fruit of love is service, the fruit of service is peace.”

Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves” (Mt 11:29). “What is the essential thing in the religion and discipline of Jesus Christ?” St. Augustine asks and then responds, “I shall reply: first humility, second humility, and third   humility.”

Jesus, our shepherd, our humble and suffering servant – who humbled himself to be born in Bethlehem – the house of bread – laid in the manger where the animals were fed – who fed the poor in the wilderness in the multiplication of bread and fish – gave himself at the last supper and said, “This is My Body” and “This is My Blood.” And we are sent out to be his flesh and blood.