A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 20:20-28)
Jesus said in reply to James and John, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
The mother of James and John approaches Jesus, kneeling before him and asking a favor. She says, “Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” Revealing a glimpse of the mystery in the relationship of the Son and the Father, Jesus indicates that the brothers will drink the chalice of suffering that he will drink but that it is not his to give but the Father’s the seat that he has prepared for them. Jesus tells the indignant ten apostles who overhear that authority in his kingdom is not as it is in the world: “Rather,” Jesus says, “whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.”
God, help me see what exercising authority in your service means. Keep me from aims of personal ambition and desire for power and instead help me follow Christ in his mission of self-giving love. Give me the grace to be ambitious for the things that endure to give you glory: humility, love, and selflessness. As Saint Paul says in the first reading: “We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.”
Lord, help me follow the example of Jesus today by doing your will and exercising authority through the humility of service to others. Saint James, pray for us!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.