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If our minds are stayed upon God, His peace will rule the affairs entertained by our minds. If, on the other hand, we allow our minds to dwell on the cares of this world, God's peace will be far from our thoughts.
- Woodrow
Kroll
(A simple
spiritual principle! Use it to your benefit.) |
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Jer 18:18-20; Psalm 31:5-6, 14,
15-16 Mt 20:17-28 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves,
and said to them on the
way,
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests
and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and hand him over to the Gentiles
to be mocked and scourged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day.” Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her
sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her, “What do you wish?”
She answered him,
“Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.”
Jesus said in reply,
“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.”
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them,
and the great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave.
Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom
for many.” https://shalomplace.com/view/bcc.html USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“Such is the case with the Son of Man Who has come, not to be served by others, but to
serve, to give His own life as a ransom for the many.” —Matthew 20:28
Most people recognize they have an inner desire to serve others. Millions are serving the poor, the sick, children, the elderly, the homeless, etc. At Christmas time, many people are even more conscious of their need to serve. However, service has a tendency to get out of hand. It feels good to serve, but it also hurts to serve. For example, Jeremiah was not only unappreciated for his service to God’s people, he was even “repaid with evil” (Jer 18:20). After Jesus challenged His apostles to become servants, He called them to become the slaves of all, even to giving their lives for others (Mt 20:27-28). Thus, service for the Lord shifts from our choice to His leading, transitioning to a
godly slavery and the cross of Calvary. Therefore, although we have an inner desire to serve, we also have a strong inner desire not to serve, to limit service, to abort service before we have to suffer and die to ourselves. Will you drink of the cup (Mt 20:22) of crucified service, and even to serve as a
slave of the Lord? Will you let God’s love crucify your flesh and selfishness? (see Gal 5:24) With Jesus, come to serve (Mt 20:28). Come to the cross. Prayer: Father, I will serve and not count the cost. Promise: “Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve the rest.” —Mt
20:26 Presentation Ministries
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CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY AND SPIRITUALITY by James Arraj (all rights reserved) What is Christian theology? It is a
thoughtful reflection on belief in the Christian mysteries like God as a Trinity of persons, and Jesus as both God and human. Doesn't thinking about the Christian mysteries somehow take away faith in them? No. St. Augustine says, "Love the
intellect greatly!" We are meant to use our minds which God has given us to the utmost in all the areas of our lives, and what could be a better use of them than to try to understand something of what we believe? Isn't theology just a matter of using human reason so that even a person who doesn't believe can be a theologian?
No. Human reason alone can't come to a knowledge of the Christian mysteries. Faith is necessary in order to assent to their existence and to direct reason in its work of trying to understand something about them. To attempt to do theology without faith is like attempting to have a conversation about someone we don't believe exists; it soon degenerates into sterile
arguments. |
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