Mark 9: 30-37
Jesus and his disciples went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.” But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.
Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Go to the Lord
Jesus just told the disciples he would die and rise, a potential watershed moment on their journey together. Instead of going to Jesus and honoring their discomfort by asking for clarification on what dying and rising meant, in their confusion the disciples moved on and switched topics. Jesus must have been doubly disappointed that his closest followers were afraid to question him and instead leaned into their pride and vanity by discussing which one of them was the greatest. How frustrating would it have been to hear such petty and self-centered concerns from the people he was entrusting with the mission of building the Kingdom of God?
With the child he tried to remind his inner circle that we are called to serve, especially the innocent and the unprotected. Like the disciples, we too can let our fear prevent us from going to the Lord, and also let our priorities go askew.
—Carl Caceres, SJ, is a Midwest Province Jesuit working on a doctoral degree in higher education at Loyola University Chicago.
Prayer
We Pray to You, O Lord,
Help us to honor our discomfort
And bring our confusion to You
Especially when we do not understand
Instead of sinking into ourselves
To remember our priorities and our call
to love and serve you by loving and serving others
Especially those often viewed as the lowest, the last, and the least
Amen.
—Carl Caceres, SJ
Pray with the Pope
The Holy Father’s Monthly Prayer Intentions Brought to you by Apostleship of Prayer the first Friday of each month.