LECTIONARY READINGS
First reading: Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
Responsorial psalm: Ps 53(54):3-6, 8
Second reading: James 3:16–4:3
Gospel: Mark 9:30-37
Link to readings
Throughout his ministry on earth, Jesus walked a path of compassion, humility and service. He embodied a true spirit of wisdom and understanding. Even when Jesus was aware that powerful forces were plotting against him and his death was imminent, he never lost sight of his desire to serve others.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gently challenges his disciples to abandon their self-importance and ambition and instead follow his example of solidarity alongside the weak and powerless. Jesus turns human power-values on their head: his greatness comes from putting the needs of others first.
The First Reading from the book of Wisdom tells of how the godless are challenged by the truth. Their rejection of God’s law of love foretells the way in which Jesus will meet his death. The Psalm picks up this same theme and is a prayer for strength and resilience in the face of evil and ignorance. We can imagine Jesus praying this psalm as he faced his death. The words offer comfort and consolation to those who face oppression for their beliefs today.
In the Second Reading, true wisdom is described as pure, gentle, kind and full of compassion. It directs us to become peacemakers. It is an antidote to the petty ambitions, jealousies and power-plays that were emerging in the early Christian community. We would do well to heed these words of caution in our own churches today.
This week, let us pray for the grace to be true servants of the poor, weak and powerless. In a world full of discord and fear, may we have the strength to stand against injustice and sow lasting seeds of peace and harmony.
SECOND READING
James 3:16–4:3
Wherever you find jealousy and ambition, you find disharmony, and wicked things of every kind being done; whereas the wisdom that comes down from above is essentially something pure; it also makes for peace, and is kindly and considerate; it is full of compassion and shows itself by doing good; nor is there any trace of partiality or hypocrisy in it. Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the seeds which will bear fruit in holiness. Where do these wars and battles between yourselves first start? Isn’t it precisely in the desires fighting inside your own selves? You want something and you haven’t got it; so you are prepared to kill. You have an ambition that you cannot satisfy; so you fight to get your way by force. Why you don’t have what you want is because you don’t pray for it; when you do pray and don’t get it, it is because you have not prayed properly, you have prayed for something to indulge your own desires.
REFLECTION
Confident that I come to prayer bathed in the loving presence of God, I invite my mind and body to become still in whatever way works best for me. When I feel ready to pray, I slowly read the passage several times. As I read, I begin to notice which words, phrases or ideas come to my attention. I pause on these words and allow them to be the focus of my prayer.
I reflect on how this makes me feel. Am I challenged . . . perhaps encouraged . . . or maybe something else? What is ‘the wisdom that comes down from above’ that James speaks of? Where do I see these qualities of compassion, kindness and integrity being expressed in the world today? Am I able to uphold and live by these qualities myself? Where in the world, or in my community, do I see ‘peacemakers’ at work? What seeds of peace and integrity am I being asked to sow, tend and grow?
James writes of some of the challenges that face us in prayer. Do I recognise some of the difficulties he mentions when I come to pray? With openness and honesty, I speak with the Lord about this, or any other reflections that have stirred my heart during this time of prayer. I close my prayer making a sign of the cross.
GOSPEL
Mark 9: 30–37
After leaving the mountain, they made their way through Galilee; and Jesus did not want anyone to know, because he was instructing his disciples; he was telling them, ‘The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men; they will put him to death; and three days after he has been put to death he will rise again’. But they did not understand what he said and were afraid to ask him.
They came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the road?’ They said nothing because they had been arguing which of them was the greatest. So he sat down, called the Twelve to him and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, they must make themselves last of all and servant of all’. He then took a little child, set him in front of them, put his arms round him, and said to them, ‘Anyone who welcomes one of these little children in my name, welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not me, but the one who sent me’.
REFLECTION
I come to my place of prayer and gently become still before the Lord. After asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I slowly begin to read through the Gospel passage until it becomes familiar to me.
Perhaps I imagine being one of the disciples descending from the mountain with Jesus. On this mountain, some of the disciples had witnessed his transfiguration. Then, later, all of them had been with Jesus when he healed a young boy, although they had not themselves been able to help. Having witnessed all of this, what would I be feeling and thinking about Jesus?
Jesus now begins to teach about his death. As I hear him, what is my reaction to his words? The disciples don’t seem to hear or understand what they’ve just heard. I ponder this. Why do they not grasp what Jesus is telling them? Or are they choosing to ignore a difficult reality? Have I ever responded in the same way, failing to respond with empathy on hearing something traumatic or challenging?
I then notice the argument about who is the greatest. What is my response to this? Perhaps I have witnessed or been part of ‘power politics’ in my own church community. How would Jesus want me to act in such a situation? I notice how Jesus transforms the disciples’ argument with the help of a little child. What can I learn from the way he does this?
If Jesus was teaching them today, who would be the weak and powerless that he would embrace? I close my prayer with my own words of thanks.
Courtesy of St Beuno’s Outreach in the Diocese of Wrexham, UK