Reading 1 Jer 18:18-20
“Come, let us contrive a plot against Jeremiah.
It will not mean the loss of instruction from the priests,
nor of counsel from the wise, nor of messages from the prophets.
And so, let us destroy him by his own tongue;
let us carefully note his every word.”
Heed me, O LORD,
and listen to what my adversaries say.
Must good be repaid with evil
that they should dig a pit to take my life?
Remember that I stood before you
to speak in their behalf,
to turn away your wrath from them.
Responsorial Psalm PS 31:5-6, 14, 15-16
You will free me from the snare they set for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God.
R. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
I hear the whispers of the crowd, that frighten me from every side,
as they consult together against me, plotting to take my life.
R. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
But my trust is in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.
R. Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.
Verse Before the Gospel Jn 8:12
I am the light of the world, says the Lord;whoever follows me will have the light of life.
Gospel Mt 20:17-28
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.”
DROP THE SUBJECT
"In reply Jesus said, 'You do not know what you are asking.' " –Matthew 20:22
As we enter into Lent, Jesus is trying to take us with Him to the cross. He speaks of being betrayed, condemned, scourged, crucified, and risen (Mt 20:18-19). However, like James and John, many of us aren't that interested in the cross. In fact, we're not that interested in Lent, fasting, penance, repentance, or Confession. We have more important things on our minds; that is, ourselves.
We're more concerned about what we want (see Mt 20:21) than about what the Lord wants. We'd like to be promoted, to sit at Jesus' right or left hand (Mt 20:21). We'd like to go to Jesus' throne and bypass the cross.
Yet Jesus doesn't cooperate with us. He insists we get our minds off of ourselves and back on the cross. He speaks of the cup of suffering (Mt 20:22) and of laying down our lives in service to each other (Mt 20:28). He determines to speak of nothing but of Himself crucified (see 1 Cor 2:2).
If we're going to communicate with Jesus, if we're going to pray, we'll have to stop focusing on ourselves and let Jesus be Lord of our conversation. Jesus refuses to drop the subject of the cross. So we must drop the subject of ourselves, if we expect to communicate with Him. Drop your subject.
| PRAYER: | Father, may I boast of nothing but the cross (Gal 6:14). |
| PROMISE: | "Into Your hands I commend my spirit; You will redeem me, O Lord, O faithful God." –Ps 31:6 |
| PRAISE: | Rather than growing bitter over the loss of her husband and children, Theresa began volunteering for her Church family. |
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