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. (Mt 20:26-28)
Today is the feast of St. James.
In the Gospel, James and John are brought to the Lord by their mother, who attempts to ensure that her sons will be at the Lord’s right and left when He gets into His Kingdom. In effect, she wants them to be the “heirs apparent”.
The other disciples, of course, become angry at the request. Most likely because someone beat them to the punch.
After all, they seemed to be forever jockeying for position around the Lord.
They never really understood what the Lord was all about.
He cared about serving, about loving, about giving and not about being served and taking.
And so, Jesus set a unique rule for competition: You want to be the best? Be the best servant; because, that’s where it’s at!
FAITH ACTION: How often do your needs have to be met rather than meeting the needs of others? Today, take the time to be a true servant to at least one person.