+ There are a whole lot of things going on in the gospel passage today. It is written by St. Mark who is the simplest of all the gospel writers, and it was his intention to mainly introduce themes and ideas without much fleshing out. Matthew, Luke and John did that part quite well! Mark is the "secretive" one, and kind of leaves you wondering…
Today Jesus and his disciples leave where they were and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it. He was teaching his disciples along the way that the Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him and three days after his death, the Son of Man will rise. They did not understand the saying, were probably not even sure if he was referring to himself, and they were afraid to ask him any questions.
When they arrived at Capernaum he asked them what they had been arguing about along the way, but they remained silent. (They had been discussing among themselves who was the greatest among them). Then he sat down and had the Twelve gather around him and (knowing all along what they had been discussing) he said to them: the first shall be the last of all and the servant of all. This is plain enough – but very difficult indeed to do – has anyone here today really, truly tried to do this consistently, regularly and well?
But then Jesus joins in the same instruction period the ideas of his identification with children – all children; and he connects this with the unity that exists between himself and his Father in heaven. All of these really have to do with being last and a servant of all. Children and the child-like like to be helpful and comforting. This indeed makes them truly great, not only in the eyes of their parents, but also in the eyes of another one who really counts even more: God their Father in heaven.
By the way: the reason St. Mark is so "secretive" is that, at this early point in Church history when his gospel was written – to be the seed for the other gospels – the Holy Spirit who was actually doing the writing, through Mark, knew that the minds of the Jewish people had to be opened very slowly to the truths of the new dispensation, the new testament, the new way of Jesus. It wouldn't be a bad idea to recommend the gospel of St. Mark to those who have never met Jesus, or who want a refresher course and want to start with something bite-sized!
Of course, in the course of time, what Jesus predicted about himself, the Son of Man, did come to pass; and as prophesied in the first reading he was reviled and tortured and condemned to a shameful death – and he went to it WILLINGLY, LOVINGLY, and even JOYFULLY – he loved us so!
For us, this means we are redeemed; we can have the fruit of righteousness deep within our hearts that is sown in peace – IF WE CULTIVATE PEACE!
LET US CULTIVATE PEACE, BY BEING A PEACEMAKER TODAY AND EVERY DAY – ALLOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PEACE TO FLOW THROUGH US AFTER WE SIMPLY ASK HIM TO DO IT!
The secret is now out! Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Savior, Jesus is Prince of Peace! Go and tell everyone you come across! God bless you!
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