GIVE ME WHAT I WANT.

TWENTY-NINETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME. YEAR B
OCTOBER 22, 2006.
(First reading: Isaiah 53:10-11) (Second reading: Hebrews 4:14-16)
(Gospel: Mark 10:35-45)

GIVE ME WHAT I WANT.

"Give me what I want" seems to be what we always ask of God... and there is nothing wrong with that if what we want is to be closer to God.

In the gospel, James and John ask Jesus: "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you... Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left" (Mark 10:35-36). James and John asked Jesus to give them what they wanted because they recognized that Jesus is the right person to ask to, and because they knew that Jesus would grant their request.

What James and John are asking is to be with Jesus in his glory.

In his answer Jesus seems to be saying: The granting of your petition requires my participation and your participation.

1. The participation of Jesus consists in his demonstrating for us the way that leads to his glory: There is a cup to drink, a baptism in which to be baptized (Mark 10:38)

2. Our participation consists in doing what Jesus does: We must "drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized" (Mark 10:38).

In other words Jesus is saying that in order for us to reach his glory we must be confronted with a world that is in conflict with us, a world that wants to destroy us, just as the world was in conflict with Jesus himself and wanted to destroy him.

Then Jesus goes on to describing such a world: It is a world where "those who are recognized as rulers(1) over the people lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt" (Mark 10:42).

The rulers of the world use the law as a means to exert dominion over whom they rule, and use their authority as a means to subjugate their fellow human beings. The Lord Jesus wants to make very clear the type of world he wants to redeem, his "cup" and his "baptism".

We, therefore, are the only ones who can respond to the Lord Jesus that we want to be confronted with the world, that we want to drink his cup, that we want to be baptized with the same baptism with which he is baptized, that we want to be in his glory, that we are ready to receive what we want, that we are prepared to received what we are asking for. The decision is ours.

Our decision involves two steps:
1. We need to be able to see and thoroughly understand the reality of our world as it is described by Jesus, that is, a world of "rulers" who control people, of "great ones" who oppress people.

Jesus is truly interested in making sure that we come to know our sinful world; that is why the gospel tell us that "Jesus summoned the twelve" (Mark 10:42) to explain to them about the world's "rulers" and "great ones". We need to see how damaging, and at the same time how real are the relations based on possession and oppression over human beings(2).

2. We must, then, be willing to become servants (not oppressors) and slaves (not owners of people) to all human beings . That is why the Lord Jesus tells his disciples: "Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all" (Mark 10:44)

If our petition is: "Lord, give us what we want", "we want to be with you in your glory", then the Lord Jesus has given us a straight answer, he reassures us that our petition will be granted if we follow his path.

Through the first and second readings(3) of this Sunday Jesus seem to be telling us: "Just look at me, I asked my Father that I wanted to be in his glory and he granted it to me".
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Footnotes.
(1) The rulers are those who have been given or taken upon themselves the authority to create and apply the laws that govern a given societal system. The term rulers also includes those who use their power and influence as means of pressure and coercion over those who formally have been asigned the function of creating or applying the laws. The rulers in our world usually operate as if they were disassociated from the sinfulness and ills of the laws (rules) they create and apply. For instance: The laws that permit abortion, that authorize wars of aggression, that deprive people of their right to earn a living, that control immigration through unfair deportations, etc. are created and applied by officials who consider themselves, or are even considered by others, as virtuous and moral rulers. The rulers of this world hide their abusive authority under the "legality" of their laws, and under the "justification" that they are "just doing their job".
(2) The devastating effects of domination and oppression are well known to the weak members of a family or to the poor countries in the community of nations.
(3) "If he gives his life as an offering for sin... the will of the Lord shall be accomplished through him". "Through his suffering, my servant shall justify many" (Isaiah 53:10-11) . "We have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God" (Hebrews 4:14).