The closing lines of this gospel remind me of elementary school, when kids would push and shove to be first in line to go to lunch or recess. I distinctly recall my teachers at Sacred Heart School in Weymouth, Massachusetts, quoting this gospel passage to get students to settle down and form an orderly line no matter who wound up first.

Sometimes, a student who had shoved their way to the front got sent to the back of the line. Other times, we lined up in alphabetical order, and those of us with last names towards the end of the alphabet (myself included) would bemoan being stuck in the back again. No matter how we were lined up, there was a fixation on being near the front or moving up in line.

Now, as adults, we find ourselves in more of a metaphorical line: the impulse to succeed, make progress, and move up in the world. And sometimes, that pressure fuels a scarcity mindset, where we erroneously believe that someone else’s gain is our loss.

This gospel moves us to ask a question of ourselves: Are we placing too much value on being first, proverbially pushing others down or out of the way as we chase our own pursuits?
Jesus says that those who give things up for his sake or the sake of the gospel will receive “houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands.” In other words, following Jesus will lead to community. Not fame or riches or attention, but the support of our fellow humans on the journey of life.

Life is not about being first, succeeding over others, or external validation. Rather, it is about living in a community and how we can support each other. What is one thing we can each do today to focus on that instead of being first in the line of life?