Another teachable moment

Homily for October 18, 2015 (29th Sunday in Ordinary Time) Isaiah 53:10-11; Psalm 33; Hebrew 4:14-16; Mark 10:35-45

One of the more captivating stories in Washington these days is the ongoing drama surrounding the election of the next Speaker of the House. The day following Pope Francis' historic address to a joint session of Congress, Speaker John Boehner announced that he was retiring from Congress effective October 30. It doesn't look like he should start packing quite yet.

Since Speaker Boehner's announcement, the leading candidate to replace him has stepped aside and another representative, only a few years removed from being a candidate for Vice President, has been asked but doesn't seem too anxious to run. It seems that he isn't willing to drink from the cup of rancor or be baptized in the baptism of dysfunction. How does one lead a group like our Congress that doesn't want to be led and seems unmanageable?

A reader of St. Mark's gospel couldn't be faulted for concluding that Jesus must have asked a similar question about his disciples. No matter what he did or said or how many times he did or said it, they were painfully slow to catch on to his identity as Messiah, his true mission, or the real meaning of the kingdom he proclaimed.

Today's gospel passage is a case in point. James and John were two of Jesus' closest disciples. They had heard him preach, teach and predict his death several times. They had heard him say that following him meant denying themselves and taking up their own crosses. He, their Lord, would be like the suffering servant in the Book of Isaiah, the one who would be crushed and give his life as an offering for many.

Yet even after all this, they asked to sit on either side of him when he came into his glory! (Perhaps they were inspired but confused about the Transfiguration, when they had seen Jesus in his glory, with Moses and Elijah next to him.) They were definitely men of ambition, and their desires were not appreciated by their fellow disciples. What made them think they were so great and worthy of such an honor?

Jesus side-stepped the sons of Zebedee's request and used it as another "teachable moment" for all of his disciples. He redefined greatness and challenged them to be ambitious for service and self-sacrifice. Then he showed them again...all the way to the cross. As the author of the Letter the Hebrews reflected, Jesus the Christ and the high priest became the sacrifice, too; and he did so experiencing the fullness of our humanity.

Throughout his ministry and on the cross, Jesus embodied the mercy of God who, as Psalm 33 reminds us, is trustworthy, just and kind; the One who is our deliverer, our help and our shield. Through our baptism and in our various vocations, we have been called to embody Jesus, however imperfectly. In fact, we have been called to greatness. But we must first understand what greatness really is...and what greatness really does. +