29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B) - -Have you ever asked God for something good and he did not give it to you? You prayed with all your faith and devotion. You asked for something that was not even for you, and you did not get it. What happened? What was missing?
Today the Lord Jesus said to John and James: "You do not know what you are asking”. WITH these words we understand that we must learn to know what to ask God. Otherwise, what happened to these brothers can happen to us. How do we know what to ask for?
We know what not to ask. James and John’s petition was selfish, vain, and maybe frivolous. Lord, I want to be great, famous, honored, admired, rich, I want to be the most... But you know something we cannot deny? That all of us would like to be the number one. Everyone likes to be great, famous. So, what are we supposed to do with this wish? Two things.
The first one is to meditate on how much we are interested in the others’ opinion and not in God’s opinion. How concerned each of us is about what they think about me. But, what does God think about me?
The second one is this. Have you ever practiced aikido? Aikido is not a martial art to attack. Aikido looks for defense by making a good use of the enemy’s attack. Somebody tries to hit you and you use his strength to defend yourself. Something similar is possible to do with this greatness wish. What is my idea? Say to God: Lord, you said: “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all”. Okay my Lord. I want to be great. I want to be the first one but before you. I want to be the first and best of your children. I want to serve, like a slave. I want to be the most loving, pious, joyful and patient husband, wife, son, daughter, father, mother, etc. I want to serve not only with my work, but also with my thoughts, feelings and words. We serve others even when we say hello, when we think of them, when we talk to them.
Do you remember that last week we said that if we have possessions, if we have power, if we have resources, they are not just for ourselves, but should be put to use in service to others. So, we can say to the Lord that we want to be the most helpful person at home.
This is a prayer God is going to like. This is a prayer God is going to listen with pleasure. This is a prayer God is going to grant.
This Sunday the opening prayer says: “…give us strength and joy in serving you as followers of Christ”. Serving really well is not easy. Serving really well everyday is a challenge. For that reason today we ask for this to our God. Lord, without you we cannot. We need your strength to love really, I mean, with a helpful love. Lord, we need your joy to please our neighbor like you do it (to serve with a mean face does not make sense). Let us say: Lord, we do know what we are asking. We want to be the firsts before you.
May God bless you,
Father Eduardo Mendoza