***
Gospel: Mark 10: 32-45
The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus went ahead of them.
They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them
what was going to happen to him.
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death
and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him,
spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death,
but after three days he will rise.”
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
came to Jesus and said to him,
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?”
They answered him,
“Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”
Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
They said to him, “We can.”
Jesus said to them, “The chalice that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
“You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
***
***
As a priest, I’ve been invited into some of the most celebratory moments in people’s lives.
I think of standing at the altar, witnessing young couples exchange their vows before God… Baptizing babies… Offering children their first Communion… and so on.
But I’ve also been there for the darker, more difficult days, when people drink from the “cup” of the Lord as described in today’s Gospel.
***
Jesus is headed to Jerusalem, where he will be crucified. Meanwhile, he overhears James and John arguing about who will be the greatest in his kingdom.
So, he pulls the disciples aside and asks them, “Can you drink the cup that I drink?” … Ignorantly, James and John respond, “We can.”
They have no idea that this “cup” of the Lord entails his suffering and death.
Yet, in a matter of years, they will, in fact, taste its bitterness.
James will be the first of the Twelve to be martyred. Meanwhile, his brother, John, will be the last, dying in exile nearly six decades later.
***
How many of us have tasted the “cup” of the Lord, sharing his suffering in faith?
I think of parents who watch their children struggle with addiction, depression, or anxiety. Yet they never leave their side… You have tasted the “cup” of the Lord.
Those who care for an ill or aging spouse in love…
Those who persevere in spite of dryness in prayer…
Families who stand by the graveside weeping… yet turn to the Lord in hope. You have tasted the “cup” of the Lord.
***
This is the paradox of our faith. We believe that down is up; that up is down; that the path to glory is paved in suffering; that death leads to life.
May all who taste the “cup” of the Lord persevere, trusting in Christ’s promise, “Behold, I am with you always.”
***
***
Image credits: (1) Jardins Liorzou (2) Cru (3) Pat Cross, National Catholic Register