|  | Daily Bible Reflections Archive
 |
Theo Tigno•
5/25/2010 9:30 pm
Reply To Post
|
Wednesday, May 26th 2010 |
Mark 10: 32-45
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."
Dawg's Thought:
Today's prayer intention - for those who have no home / shelter as the summer approaches.
Lately, I have been hearing about a great problem that exists among my peers: video games. In a way, it can be translated to anything that allows us to live an "alternate" life. The reason why it seems so popular is because it offers an escape from the struggle of our daily lives. After all, if I'm not able to be "successful" in my daily life, at least I can be successful in my "virtual" life.
In fact, I can see myself moving into my own "virtual" escape as I closely follow the Suns - Lakers basketball playoff series.
How can avoiding living life through escapism lead to greatness? After all, if we took Christ's words and applied them (whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant), true greatness is not in the pursuit of being great, but pursuing greatness in humility (once again with the contradiction). Video game players strive to be great by posting high scores. Some who are addicted to social networking websites strive to be great by putting forth a grand portrait of themselves or by pulling in great numbers of people to be connected with. And for the sports fan (like myself), greatness has nothing to do with me but rather the team I'm a fan of.
Christ declares none of these to be great. It is in being a servant that we find greatness. Can you imagine if we had a society where people served Christ in their neighbor and in poor versus striving to be great virtually? Maybe we'd see more young people getting their "high scores" in defending the dignity of chastity. Maybe we'd see no need for the evil abortion clinics. Maybe we'd see an end to another evil "escape" - the pornography industry.
So, let us enter into the true reality, where we battle with the temptations of the evil one, armed with humble acts of prayer and service, for humility is a language the evil one cannot understand. We are in a true battle with real souls on the line. Let us serve them, and ourselves, with a greatness that only comes from Christ Jesus. Take care and God Bless.
|
|
| |
