Homily for 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Homily for the
29th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Oct. 17, 2021
Mark 10: 35-43
St. Joseph’s Church, New Rochelle, N.Y.

“James and John … came to Jesus and said to him, ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you’” (Mark 10: 35).

Two of Jesus’ 3 favorite apostles (the 3d is Simon Peter), the 2 he’d nicknamed “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17), come to him and make an incredibly bold demand; we could call it thunderous:  “We want you to do whatever we ask.”  Would you ever think of addressing your boss, your best friend, or even your favorite aunt like that?  And they have the nerve to address Jesus as “Teacher.”  What have they learned from him?  Zilch!  Niente!  Nada!

Just verses before this passage, he’d been telling his disciples that they’ll have to give up families and lands and wealth.  In 4 verses skipped over between last Sunday’s gospel and today’s, he predicted for the 3d time his own passion, death, and resurrection.  That’s not the kind of glory James and John are thinking of.

Jesus displays patience with them as incredible as their boldness.  Instead of telling them how foolish or blockheaded they are, he tells them they don’t understand what they’re asking for.

The rest of the 12 apostles are just as blockheaded.  They’re as ambitious and self-centered as James and John, and “they became indignant at James and John” (10:41) for trying to seize power, as it were.

Patiently Jesus tries again to teach all of them what real authority is, real greatness, real leadership.

But 1st he responds directly to the sons of thunder:  the places they seek are already reserved for others.  Whom can Jesus mean?  If we remember when Jesus will come into his kingdom, we come to a startling answer.  In Mark’s Gospel, he’s recognized as Son of God by the centurion at Calvary (15:39).  In John’s Gospel, he comes into his glory on the cross (ch. 17).  In short, it’s at his crucifixion—implying also his resurrection—that Jesus comes “into his glory” (10:37).

When Jesus was crucified, who had the places at his left and right?  It wasn’t any of the 12, who’d scattered like scared rabbits when he was arrested.  You know the answer:  crucified on either side of him (you can see their images in stained glass over there on either side of the Sacred Heart)—it’s recorded in all 4 gospels—were 2 thieves (or bandits or revolutionaries or criminals, depending on the translation you’re reading).

Which means what?  The 2 outlaws who died alongside Jesus represent us.  Jesus achieves glory from his Father by coming among us sinners who’ve broken God’s laws, sharing our mortality, and offering us divine pardon and eternal life.  “The Son of Man … came to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:45).

“For many” in this text, as in Jesus’ words at the Last Supper which we repeat at every Mass, has several meanings.  1) “many” represents a larger whole—everyone; 2) “many” means many nations, many peoples, and not only the Jews; 3) “many” indicates that some people will reject the pardon God offers, and Jesus will effectively ransom many but not all.

But the point here is Jesus’ offering his life as a ransom for sinners.  He’s predicted his passion, death, and resurrection 3 times.  This is “the cup” that he’ll drink, “the baptism with which [he’ll be] baptized” (10:38).  He tells James and John that they will indeed drink his cup (10:39), the cup of suffering for the glory of God, as witnesses to God’s love for humanity.  James, in fact, is destined for martyrdom—a word that means “witness”—under King Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:2) around 44 A.D.  According to a pious tradition, John was spared execution at Rome by a miracle and then sent into exile on the island of Patmos off the coast of Turkey.

All along Jesus has made it perfectly clear that everyone who follows him must drink his cup and receive his baptism.  When we’re baptized, aren’t we baptized into his death and resurrection?  St. Paul tells us we are (Rom 6:3-4).  At every Mass, don’t we take up the cup of Christ’s blood and consume his body given for us, for the forgiveness of our sins and the redemption of the world?

Indeed, we do.  Therefore, like him we offer to God the Father our lives:  sometimes in suffering, suffering life’s evils, afflictions, and heartbreaks, eventually suffering the evil of death, surrendering our lives to God as Jesus did; and sometimes the suffering of being servants, as Jesus emphasizes today:  “whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant” (10:43).  An alternate translation is “slave.”

Serving others instead of ourselves is usually hard.  But we have numerous occasions to be servants in our families, among our neighbors and acquaintances, in our parish’s ministries to the poor, at work.  Whatever we do, work is always an opportunity to benefit other people.

We prayed in the Collect that we might conform our will to God’s.  Jesus shows us how.