I have quitted all forms of devotion and set prayers but those to which my
state obliges me. And I make it my business only to persevere in His holy presence, wherein I keep myself by a simple attention, and a general fond regard to God, which I may call an actual presence of God; or, to speak better, an habitual, silent, and secret conversation of the soul with God, which often causes in me joys and raptures inwardly, and sometimes also outwardly, so great that I am forced to use means to moderate them, and prevent their appearance to others.
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Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), The Practice of the Presence of God ( . . . only to persevere in His holy presence . . .)
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Jeremiah
18:18-20
Psalm 31:5-6, 14, 15-16 Matthew 20:17-28 Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and on the way he took the Twelve to one side and said to them, ‘Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and scribes. They
will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the pagans to be mocked and scourged and crucified; and on the third day he will rise again.’
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came with her sons to make a request of him, and bowed low; and he said to her, ‘What is it you want?’ She said to him, ‘Promise that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your kingdom.’ ‘You do not know what you are asking’ Jesus answered. ‘Can you drink the cup
that I am going to drink?’ They replied, ‘We can.’ ‘Very well,’ he said ‘you shall drink my cup, but as for seats at my right hand and my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted by my Father.’
When the other ten heard this they were indignant with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that among the pagans the rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among
you. No; anyone who wants to be great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’
Reflection on the Scriptures
Authority without love, a love that is oriented toward the good of others, can so easily become self-serving and brutish. How? When it becomes not about those I serve, but about me, and how great I am. I have done this, and that,
and that, look at me. This day, Jesus does the unthinkable - he reverses the order and values of the world’s way of thinking. If you want to be great, then become a servant for others. The model of servant leadership, which Jesus presents to his disciples, is based on personal choice and freedom - the decision to put others first in care and concern and the freedom to
serve them with love and compassion rather than with fear or desire for reward. True servant leadership is neither demeaning nor oppressive because its motivating force is love rather than preservation of ego and empowerment rather than pride, self-seeking, or egoistic fear. We share then, in God’s reign by laying down our lives in humble service of one another as Jesus did for
our sake, not because we ‘Lord it over others’, but because we see how divine, selfless love can indeed transform the world For God, for good. And so, the question we are left with this day, both from the mouths of Jeremiah and from Jesus, is: are you ready to lay down your life and love yourselves as God does? Yet more importantly, from that divine love we have been graced with, are we Christ-like, courageously able, to love others as God loves them, and then to humbly serve others from
that space of divine love as Jesus did? That choice is entirely your (our) own. -by Kent Beausoleil, S.J.
The Imitation of Christ, Thomas A. Kempis https://amzn.to/40FrikB Paperback and Kindle versions available BOOK
ONE: Thoughts Helpful in the Life of a Soul
The Sixteenth Chapter: Bearing With the Faults of Others UNTIL God ordains otherwise, a person ought to bear patiently whatever he cannot correct in himself and in others. Consider it better thus -- perhaps to try your patience and to test you, for without such patience and trial your merits are of little account. Nevertheless, under such difficulties you should pray that God will consent to help you bear them calmly. If, after being admonished once or twice, a person does not amend, do not argue with him but commit the whole matter to God that His will and honor may be furthered in all His servants, for God knows well how to turn evil to good. Try to bear patiently with the defects and infirmities of others, whatever they may be, because you also have many a fault which others must endure.
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