Daily Gospel Reflection
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March 16, 2022
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
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.”
Though each section of today’s gospel is striking in its own way, it is the opening verses that perplex me most at this stage of my life. Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to be handed over and condemned to death; that he will be mocked, scourged, crucified and he will be raised on the third day.
“Oh, is that all?!”
Though the disciples had already witnessed Jesus’ divinity and were his followers, could they simply keep walking with him and ignore such an outrageous proclamation, a statement that rendered their trip to Jerusalem fatal for Jesus?
When our 85-year-old father was so weak that he had to be taken to the hospital, my brother and sisters and I were told by the doctors that the only remedy would be a bone marrow transplant. They would do that for a younger patient, but because of my father’s age, such an operation would kill him. There was no alternative. We had to accept hospice. Our father passed away within days.
Our lives are so much about problem solving. In law, medicine, accounting, and virtually every aspect of life, we are presented with problems, and we work toward solving them. My family could not “solve” our father’s medical problem. We had to accept his fate.
Jesus, on the other hand, had a choice, at least from the view of one unaware of God’s salvific plan. Jesus did not have to go to Jerusalem to be crucified but still, he went. Would not the reaction of the disciples be to challenge Jesus and tell him, “Lord, no way! Let’s not go there! Let’s save you!” However, there is no indication in this gospel that the disciples objected.
In our own lives, should we reassess our incessant instinct to problem solve? Jesus had a choice, but he still accepted what only he knew he must. Are there times we should do the same?
Prayer
The life of your followers is one of service and self-sacrifice, a life like yours, Lord. Though you must have trembled before the betrayal, condemnation and suffering ahead, you did not turn away. No, you continued up to Jerusalem out of love for us.
Fill us with your love and your strength, O God, so that we might be the servant of our sisters and brothers and thus imitate your great gift of love. Amen.
Saint of the Day
The relics of St. Julian were a powerful aid to prayer in the ancient world. The great “golden-tongued” preacher, St. John Chrysostom, used St. Julian’s life and example as a model for his congregations. Julian’s relics were known to be helpful in exorcising evil spirits.
Julian was a senator from Cilicia, which is in modern-day Turkey. He was arrested in 305 during a persecution of Christians and was subjected to many kinds of torture. He was even paraded around the region for a year as an example to other Christians. He was finally killed by being sewn into a bag full of snakes and scorpions and dumped in the sea. Whether or not this actually happened or is an exaggeration is difficult to tell, but suffice it to say that he suffered and met a painful death. His body was somehow recovered and transferred to Antioch.
One thing is clear: the people of Antioch in the fourth century had a very real and vigorous devotion to St. Julian, and relied upon his intercession. Antioch depended upon water travel for commerce, so perhaps his intercession was sought for sailors and those braving difficult voyages. After all, no voyage could be as terrible as one with snakes and scorpions for sailing companions. Some of St. Julian's relics rest in the reliquary chapel of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus.
St. Julian of Antioch, you were killed by being sewn into a bag full of snakes and scorpions—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Julian of Antioch is in the public domain. Last accessed February 6, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
