THURSDAY OF THE SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME FEAST OF SAINT JAMES, APOSTLE Gospel Mt

THURSDAY OF THE SIXTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
FEAST OF SAINT JAMES, APOSTLE
Gospel
Mt 20:20-28
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 in-dignant 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."
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ.
The Word of God for Everyone
Dear People of God,
The Word of God in today's Gospel tells the story of the apostles arguing with each other about the issue of authority and status when following God.
The apostles were those who followed Jesus Christ closely and witnessed many of the miracles that He performed. At that time, Jesus Christ was more prominent than the Jewish teachers or prophets, because only He could bring the dead back to life. For that reason, the apostles followed Jesus Christ. This is because they thought that their Teacher was like an earthly king, so they followed, hoping to have position, fame, and power in the world.
Through the story between James' mother and the apostles, Jesus wanted to teach His disciples a lesson about service: following God is to serve everyone, not to let others serve us. The image of Jesus Christ is a shining example of a life of humble, self-effacing service, serving people with a giving love worthy for all His children to follow.
Now, He also wants His disciples, when following Jesus Christ, to become servants to everyone. Those who wish to become great must serve others, not to be served earthly king or officials. Because the power of earthly kings and officials is limited, fleeting, and will end at the end of their earthly life. The Kingdom of Heaven is where God resides, where eternal life cannot be lost. Therefore, the purpose of Jesus Christ coming to earth to become a human is to serve humanity, to save all the souls of the children that God has created.
In this era, because God wants to save souls, God continues to send His apostles to go out and serve, preach the Gospel, heal and cast out demons, and save souls from Satan and his followers. God calls all apostles when sent to preach the Gospel to become small, lowly, and to serve everyone following the example of Jesus Christ: "I am among you as the one who serves." (Luke 22:27).
Thanks be to God. Amen.