Daily Gospel Reflection
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May 27, 2026
The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus went ahead of them.
They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them
what was going to happen to him.
“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 who will mock him,
spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death,
but after three days he will rise.”
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
came to Jesus and said to him,
“Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
He replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?”
They answered him,
“Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.”
Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
They said to him, “We can.”
Jesus said to them, “The chalice that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
“You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without permission in writing from the copyright owner. The full readings of the day from the Lectionary are available here.
Fear is a recurring motif in Mark’s Gospel. In this reading, the disciples are introduced as being “afraid”—the fourth such time to this point in Mark. Fear drives us to seek certainty. Perhaps out of their own fear, John and James try to secure their position of glory.
Up to this point, the disciples had witnessed quite a few of Jesus’ miracles. They saw Jesus doing great things for people, often in response to a direct request. From those experiences and their privileged position of having witnessed the transfiguration, John and James were keenly aware of what they perceived as Jesus’ power. They could have thought, “Why not us?” Why not ask for a seat of glory next to Jesus?
The audacity of this request alone is stunning. Coming immediately on the heels of Jesus’ description of his imminent, rather unpleasant, fate redoubles its brazenness. But, alas, it is an audacity with which I am too familiar. Who isn’t interested in “cheap grace?” Glory for the asking.
But Jesus makes it clear a seat next to him involves a cost: “The chalice I will drink, you will drink.” Discipleship, and ultimately “glory,” will entail sacrifice and some discomfort. What is to be sacrificed? Power: “it shall not be so among you” to “make [your] authority…felt.” What else? If you head to daily Mass today, the first reading offers power’s running mate, wealth–“perishable things like silver and gold”—as another candidate for the sacrificial altar.
Today’s Scripture reading is a gut punch, one of many inversions of the worldly values we easily assimilate. No to power. No to wealth. If you wish to prepare for a seat next to Jesus, be a servant. How? “Love one another intensely from a pure heart.”
Prayer
Lord, if we drink the cup each of us is poured and given in life, we know that we, your servants, just like the first disciples, will fare no better than you, our master. But if we shirk the cross in our lives, gone too will be our hope. Strengthen us to be faithful to our vocations that in serving rather than being served, we will find the dying and the rising equally assured. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Augustine of Canterbury was a missionary who re-evangelized England in the late sixth century through his administrative skills and miracle-working faith.
When the Romans withdrew from England in 410, the English were left vulnerable to attacks from the Germanic Saxon tribes. The faith had come to England with the Romans, and it went underground when they left.
In 596, Pope St. Gregory the Great decided it was time to re-evangelize England, having received news that the Church would be welcomed among the kingdoms there. He sent 30 missionaries from the monastery to which he belonged, including the community leader, Augustine.
The group arrived in the north of France and was vehemently warned against crossing the channel to England because of the danger of the voyage and the savagery of the people there. Discouraged, Augustine and the group returned to Rome, but Pope Gregory sent them back.
They landed in Thanet and were received by the local king, who would be baptized and later crowned a Saint himself—St. Ethelbert. He was open to their mission, gave them the use of a local, unused church, and permitted them to teach the faith.
Their work helped the faith take root in the region, the king himself was baptized, and Augustine was raised to the position of archbishop. Ethelbert gave Augustine land in Canterbury for a church, where he built Christ Church and an abbey that now bears his name. The Church spread through England, and new dioceses were established in London and Rochester.
Augustine spent his last years consolidating the faithful communities that had been underground and administering the growing Church. Under Gregory’s guidance, he did not destroy pagan temples, but consecrated them for Christian use; and retained local customs and festivals, using them as occasions to celebrate the Christian faith instead.
His detailed correspondence with Pope Gregory described miracles worked through his intercession. Gregory warned Augustine of pride and told him to stay focused on the inward realities that the outward signs pointed to.
St. Augustine of Canterbury, you re-established the faith in England—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Augustine of Canterbury is available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Last accessed March 11, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons. Modified from the original.
