29th Sunday in Ordinary Time B 21-10-12 Theme: Servant Leadership

29th Sunday in Ordinary Time B 21-10-12 Theme: Servant Leadership 1st Reading Is 53:10-11 The servant of the Lord will bring salvation to men by his suffering. 2nd Reading Heb 4:14-16 by experiencing the conditions of men Jesus has shown us the way to face human difficulties. Gospel Mark 10:35-45 Any one who wants to be the leader must be first of all the servant. Reflections of today’s reading:- The value of our life is not understood as long as we do not loose some of its worth. We know how much we value health, has, only when we become ill do we realize the value of it. We realize the value of wealth when we have lost it. We realize the value of our dear ones when we have lost them either by death or by distances. We realize the value of friendship only when we loose one of the best ones we have. The picture in the bible about man who was created in God’s image before the fall is pristine. After the fall this nature which human beings inherited has to suffer. No one would willingly choose suffering. The hope of the nations Jesus who has shown us the way, because he is the way, the truth and the life. He has given us a hope because his leadership has been that of a suffering servant proposed and prophesied ages ago in the prophetic vision of Prophet Isaiah. In the first reading we hear the prophet talking about a suffering servant who will bring about the salvation to all men by his suffering. Jesus was this suffering servant in Jesus life the prophecy of a suffering servant, has come true. He took upon himself all the pains and misery and even the ignominy of being accused, though he was innocent. He goes through this condemnation of being crucified and proves to the world he was the savior and the redeemer. He chooses suffering to bring meaning to it. The second reading from the Hebrews tells us how much this suffering servant becomes a real source of joyful living to the people who have a glimmer of hope in this world where there are many difficult conditions in the lives of men and women. The Gospel where the disciples want positions in the kingdom of God which Jesus Christ came to announce. It is quite natural in our customs when we have friends and relatives who have important positions to seek some favor. We see people going to people who have power to seek favors. Some times seeking permission to build, some times to seek some thing that they other wise could not easily have with out some recommendation. I feel James and John must have been moved by this sort of prevailing conditions and customs. Jesus who came to rectify the anomaly in the lives of societies purifies their vision of life by proposing an idea of servant leadership. Jesus tells his disciples that unless they drink the cup he is going to drink they could not have that position which they were seeking. They have to be men who serve not the ones who seek service. Therefore Jesus says very truly “the son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mk 10:45) The church is supposed to live this ideal in their every day living. But on the contrary some how on the way to modern times this ideal has become devalued. It is high time the leadership in the church restores this ideal to its pristine original form. I wish all the believers coming to be part of the Eucharistic celebration where the Living Jesus will encounter each one of us be imbued by the grace and power of Jesus, In union with the divine word, Fr. Juze Vaz svd