To Serve

Homily for Wednesday of the Second Week in Lent

I have never had any trouble understanding why the mother of the apostles James and John went to Jesus to make an extraordinary request. After all, what mother doesn’t want her son or sons to succeed, to get ahead in the world. Consequently, her request makes all the sense in the world to me. However, when the other apostles react negatively to her boldness, it seems to me that they are acting out of a sense of jealousy.

If nothing else, their reaction makes us realize that none of them understood that being a disciple of Jesus was not about positions of honor. Rather, being a disciple of Jesus is about conforming their lives to his. As he has served, they will be asked to serve. As he was despised by the Pharisees and scribes of Jerusalem, they will be despised. Perhaps most importantly, as he was mocked, scourged, and crucified, they too will suffer at the hands of others.

While the mother of Zebedee’s sons asks Jesus for something he cannot give, we have the opportunity during this Lenten journey to ask Jesus for something he is not only willing to give but also anxious to give each one of us; namely, he will give us the grace to persevere if we but ask him for it.

In the first reading, we hear Jeremiah’s prayer in which he asks God to hear what his adversaries are saying against him. Though we often times think of the prophets as being older men, it is important that we remember that Jeremiah was probably a teenager when God called him to be a prophet. God asks him to stand before the political powers of his day and to issue a warning about their defection from the covenant relationship that Israel has made with God. It cannot have been an easy task. However, to be a prophet means to carry the word of God with you wherever you go and in whatever situation you find yourself.

As we continue our Lenten journey, like Jeremiah and the apostles, we are called to conform our lives to the life of Jesus, serving others with humility.