Power and Glory
Jesus upends expectations
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Dear Saints,
We've seen the message of this weekend's Gospel passage before. It's a mainstay of Jesus' mission.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
Even 2,000 years on, this kind of talk is shocking. It's radical. Revolutionary. But what makes it so, and what on earth is Jesus driving at?
In short, the world as we know it is upside down. The creation of the entire cosmos is, on God's part, an act of love. God loves into being everything that exists. As God's image-bearer, man is made to reflect God's loving and wise rule into the world. We're not doing that terribly well.
The revolution Jesus wants to accomplish, then, is to flip the world right side up. By his death and resurrection, Jesus has inaugurated God's coming kingdom. God's rule now advances in and through the Body of Christ, those who persevere by faith in the way of love no matter what.
This is a radical call, because we need to be renewed from the roots. When we trust and follow Jesus at all times we're going the truly human way, the image-bearing way. With God's Spirit at work in us and working through us we can embody his love, even to the point of being the servant or slave of all, for his wounded world.
And a further thought, just to bring this point home:
I love you, my friends, and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Christ's Peace,
Father Daniel
δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ
Preparing for Mass?
Check out this weekend's readings:
The Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Christ Washing the Disciples' Feet
Rembrandt van Rijn, ca.1650