Matthew 20:20-28
When fellow Catholics learn that my
brother is a priest I often hear, "
must be nice, you know you're going to Heaven." My mother was speaking with some friends about life after death and they quipped, "
what do you have to worry about? Your son is a priest. You'll go straight to Heaven."
Oh how I wish these old Catholic "traditions" (with a teeny tiny small t) were true. But they are not. Simply being related to a priest, bishop, or even Pope (I bet Fr. Georg Ratzinger wishes it were true) does not assure a place in Heaven. Each and every individual must enter Heaven by the grace of Jesus Christ with faith working through love. It's not who you know, it's who you know, love, and serve in this life that prepares you for the next.
In today's Gospel James and John, with the help of their mamma, try playing the who-you-know card. I admire them for their boldness but I think Jesus sets them and us straight.
For us to enter into Heaven we must first "drink of the cup". Notice that this is not simply a cup of senseless suffering. Rather it is the cup of Redemptive Suffering that Christ will drink for us and we are invited to share in it. To follow Jesus into Heaven means that we must enduring suffering with love in our hearts. We must endure those dirty looks and mean comments from friends, family, co-workers, and enemies alike for the sake of the Gospel. We must be willing to suffer, with patient love, for those who love us and for those who hate us.
If we agree to drink the cup, we must then seek to serve. We must seek to be the least in order to be the "greatest" in the Kingdom. Our mission must be to serve others humbly. This in no way means that we are to be some sort of slave with no will, serving blindly. It means that we are seeking the best in and for others. As the saying goes, "sinners accuse and saints excuse". To be saints then, you and I must see God in each person and act accordingly. This is often extremely difficult when that person does not see God within himself or denies the very existence of God. But that too is part of the program - service and suffering with love.
This is the example Christ set, "even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." He served those who loved Him and those who hated Him. He suffered for those who loved Him and those who hated Him. He does so still today and asks us to do the same.
FROM THE SAINTS -
"If you are working for Christ and imagine that a position of responsibility is anything but a burden, what disillusionment awaits you!" - Saint Josemaria Escriva (The Way #950)
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