The Ransom of Many for Wednesday, May 30

Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time

by Diane Bayne

“You know how among the Gentiles those who seem to exercise authority lord it over them; their great ones make their importance felt. It cannot be like that with you. Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve the rest; whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all. The Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve--to give his life in ransom for the many.” Mark 10:42-45

Piety

With these words of today's Gospel, Jesus describes the heart of humility--his humility--which we must share if we hope to be his followers. Decisively answering James' and John's request to sit, one at his right hand and the other at his left, Christ leaves no room for doubt about the spirit which is to animate the disciples. They are to follow his example by serving each other and, if need be, by laying down their very lives for each other.

In what areas of my life am I in a position to exercise authority over others? Would they describe my relationship with them as a Christ-like one?

Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/053007.shtml

The request of James and John in today's Gospel is a vivid example of our corrupt human nature – corrupt because, unless we are always on guard, instead of turning toward God we turn toward self. This innate self-focus demands that the rights and welfare of others always come after our own. Of this self-focus St. Francis deSales says, “It will die only a quarter of an hour after we do.”

Humility has been called the foundation of the spiritual life. The lives of the saints show us how they revered this virtue. As time allows this week, pick a saint and focus on the specific ways he/she developed this virtue. What practices of him/her can you adopt?

Action

The example, par excellence, of humility was our own Blessed Mother. In the home at Nazareth she buried herself in a very ordinary life filled with household tasks far beyond any we know today. She had no washing machine, dishwasher, clothes dryer, refrigerator, indoor plumbing or running water. Daily she had to make the dough, knead it and bake it. Daily she had to fetch the daily water supply from the town well. To clothe her family she had to spin the thread and make the cloth from which she then made garments. She probably also tended a small garden. What must have been hardest of all, she had to live day by day with first-hand knowledge of who Jesus was, without being able to cry out to the world what she knew. She, who knew Christ better than any one ever could, kept silent. The Salesian Probation on Humility observes: “The treasures God gives and which people generally use for their own glory, she used only for His glory.”

In what area of your life do you find it hardest to live humbly? Ask Mary to teach you how to live it as she would.