29^th Sunday of O.T. (B); 10-17-2021

Is 53:10-11.  Ps 33.  Heb 9:14-16.  Mk 10:35-45

Deacon Jim McFadden

            Jesus and his disciples are on the road.  Since we are disciples of Jesus by virtue of our baptism, this setting is the Church’s journey as well:  this road is about our life…about our entire history.  Every road leads somewhere and as members of the mystical Body of Christ,  our journey leads to the Paschal Mystery: Jerusalem and the Cross always lie ahead of us.  We acknowledge this reality every time we make the sign of the Cross: through this simple but dramatic gesture, we’re putting on our body that the Cross and Resurrection are part of our history: it gives relevance to our day and is, indeed, the goal of the journey.

            This is very heavy stuff, which is why that on the road, the disciples were “amazed and afraid” (Mk 10:32).  Why?  Jesus had just revealed to them the Third Prediction of the Passion in no uncertain terms: they knew what lies ahead of them in Jerusalem.  They just didn’t have a general sense of foreboding, because on  several occasions Jesus had spoken openly about it.  The Lord knew what inner turmoil his followers were experiencing and he wasn’t indifferent to their anguish.  Jesus never abandons his friends; he never neglects them to fend for themselves.  Even though it seemed that Jesus was going on his way to Jerusalem, he would be doing all of this for our sake.  Every single thing Jesus ever did: his teaching, his healing, his miracles was always done for our sake and for our good—ultimately, our salvation. So, as they are walking on the road to Jerusalem, Jesus is preparing them for what is to come so that they could be with him, especially coming the time when he would no longer be with them physically.  So, Jesus is guiding them to the realization that he would always be with them on the road.

            So, knowing that their hearts were troubled, Jesus “once more” called the Twelve and told them “what was to happen to him” (v. 32).  This is the third and final prediction of his passion, death, and resurrection.  This is the road taken  by the Son of God.  If there was an alternative path, which was  the backdrop to Jesus’ Agony in the Garden on Holy Thursday,  then that would be Plan B.  But, there is no Plan B: this is it.  The road taken is the one taken by the Suffering Servant as prophesied by Isaiah in our first reading.  Jesus so identifies himself with this road that he proclaims to Doubting Thomas that “I am the Way”  (Jn 14:6).  Note: THE Way, there is no other path to salvation.

            All of this is a lot to take in all at one time.  At this point, a sudden shift takes place.  Let us imagine that Jesus has just revealed to the Apostles, the fate in store for him.  He probably looked the gathering Apostles squarely in the eye as if to say, “Do you get it?  Do you understand what I’m telling you.  Is this clear?”  Then he resumes the journey.  Apparently, they didn’t get it because two of them, James and John, broke off from the others and approached Jesus and told him what they want:  Grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory” (v. 37).  They wanted to take a different road:  not the road that Jesus had just laid out, but one that was just the polar opposite.  This is the road of self-promotion, even it meant using the Lord Jesus for their own advancement.  This is the perennial struggle: is Life about Jesus or about ourselves?  As St. Paul put it his letter to the Philippians there are those who look to their own interests and not of Christ (cf. Phil 2:21). 

            Jesus listens to James and John.  He does not get upset or angry.  His patience is indeed infinite, where most of us would probably have rolled our eyes at least.  He tells the two: “You do not know what you are asking” (v. 38).  In a way Jesus is making an excuse for them, while gently reminding them that they have gone off the road.  Getting wind of what has just transpired, the other Apostles become indignant at James and John because they were probably tempted to go off the road as well!

            People of God, as we strive  to love Jesus and follow him wherever he may lead us, we must be careful to remain on the road.  Regrettably, we wander off the road as we follow our own agenda, our Ego-drama.  These two roads can’t meet.  Jesus is the sole and universal Savior of the world: there is no other Way to salvation.  Only the Lord Jesus, through his death and resurrection can save us from going off road, of getting lost.  It is for his Apostles, it is for us in the 21^st century that Jesus is journeying to Jerusalem.  He will allow his body to be scourged, his blood to be shed not to spare us from going through this ordeal, but showing us how to live, how to be obedient to the Father’s will.  It is for his Apostles, for us, that he will rise from the dead so that we can forever participate in this divine and eternal life.  And, he will not leave us orphaned when he returned to his Father at the Ascension, but gave us the Holy Spirit that puts us back on the road. 

            Brothers and sisters, though the Apostles come off looking very badly, which is so often the case with us as well, today’s Gospel reveals so much about the truth of who Jesus is and about us.  For us today, this Gospel is a message of salvation.  We must always see ourselves reflected in the Word of God who is Truth itself.  This road is a sharp sword: it cuts deeply, it proves to be painful; but, at the same time, it heals, liberates us, converts us, and brings us home.  As we embrace conversion as an on-going life-style, we know that we must pass from being off the road to journeying on God’s road.  Amen.