Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

October 21, 2018
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 146

A Reading from the Gospel according to Mark
MK 10:35-45

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 cup 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 cup 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."


OR
Mt 10:42-45

Jesus summoned the twelve 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."

Salesian Sunday Reflection
Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel, Jesus reveals that to be great is to be a servant. St. Francis de Sales stresses that we serve God best in our daily responsibilities of our state of life:

Firmly put in your mind that God desires you to be a servant just as you are. That is, you serve God best by trying to be patient, gentle and loving in the activities and responsibilities that your state in life requires. Once you are convinced of this, you must bring yourself to a tender affection for your state in life. Because God wills it, we must love everything about it and give it first place in our heart, recalling it often, thinking it over seriously, welcoming and enjoying the truth of it.

Cultivate your own garden as best you can. Direct your thoughts to being very good at being what you are and bear the crosses, little or great, that you find there by frequently asking God to help you. Do not consider the importance of the things you do. For of themselves they are insignificant. Consider only the dignity they have in being willed by God’s providence, and planned according to God’s wisdom. In a word, if they are pleasing to God and acknowledged being so, to whom should they be displeasing?

Little by little exercise your will to follow God’s will. God, who does nothing in vain, gives us strength and courage when we need them. Gradually the strong resistance you feel will become weaker and soon disappear altogether. Call to mind that trees bear fruit only because of the presence of the sun, some sooner, and some later. Not all of them yield equal harvests. We are very fortunate to be able to remain in the presence of God. So let us be content that God will make us bear our fruit sooner or later, or only occasionally, according to God’s good pleasure. Our openness to the will of God allows us to be faith-filled servants of God, who never fails to help us in our needs

(Adapted from W. Wright & J. Power, Eds., Francis de Sales, Jane de Chantal…)