25th Sunday of Ordinary Time - Sept. 20th 2009 - 1. Do we really understand the Lord?

How difficult is sometimes to understand the Lord, his words, his teaching, his commandments, his will... How different was the language between Jesus and his disciples.

In today’s Gospel: The Lord was walking with his disciples and in private, He began to share with them the feelings from his heart. Jesus was announcing the prophecy about the Lamb of God, his sacrifice and passion and they didn’t understand it, like Peter last week that after to confess that He was the Messiah, he was trying to convince the Lord to abandoned his mission. After 2,000 years the problem remains, there are many Christians that don’t understand it, especially when the Lord presents to us the Cross, the sacrifice as the condition to follow him and the way to reach the kingdom of Heaven.

2.      Who was the greatest?

Yes, for sure the disciples didn’t understand the words of Jesus, because during the way they were talking and arguing about who was the greatest? Really, it was a stupid conversation, because to talk about who was the most important is the less important thing to talk about.

Who was the greatest? The most important, the first one? This is a common temptation for all of us. Being sincere, honest we need to recognize that this is the normal desire in our hearts, in every human being, yes it is normal, because our self love and pride.

From the beginning is the same, let us remember when you were a child. We used to say: No, this is mine; Mom I want to be first; The the best gift is for me, etc. And then we learned the same at home, in the school, college, etc.: You need to be the best, the first, the number one

3.      if anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.

Is the Lord against us, against our progress and success in our lives?

Does the Lord condemn it? It is a mortal sin to want to be the first?

Of course not, what Jesus teaches us today is that the real way to become the greatest, that in order to be the first one there are two necessaries conditions.

First we shall be the last of all and second the servant of all.

The Last of all, in other words we need to be humble, because if we are willing to be the last, if we accept sometimes to be the last, then is clear that we are not looking for our own Glory but for the Glory of God.

When the Lord takes our positions, securities, fame or health and we accept it with faith in that way we show that we are doing his will.

The servant of all.

We forget that there is no greater purpose in life than to serve and this is what the Lord taught us trough his life, He was serving others until death.

As He said: I have come not to be served... but to serve.

Yes, Like Jesus the Lord, our vocation, the reason that we are here on earth is to serve, to serve God and to serve our brothers and sisters. The most valuable thing in our lives is our service. How can we measure the value of a person? For his service, the one who serves more is more valuable, of course, look the example of the Saints, JP II, Mother Teresa, the example of our parents.

On this Sunday we can ask ourselves: How worth is a mother, the value of a father, a teacher, a priest and those who spend their lives serving others, helping others...

Brothers and sisters, as Jesus came to serve, he need to do the same, to spend our lives in service and in doing that, we will recognize that “There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.”

May God bless you.

Fr. Carlos Farfan. P.E.S.