Wednesday of the Second Week of Lent
Intention: For a spirit of compassion and generosity among all who are able to share what they have with others, especially with those who are most in need.
Today’s Gospel | Matthew 20:17-28
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
Then 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 indignant 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.”
A Lenten Reflection
When pondering Jesus’ requirements for discipleship, it is rare to find any that do not refer in some way to serving others. Jesus’ teachings unfailingly link love of God with love of neighbor, and love of neighbor with attentiveness to their needs. On the surface, it appears that the call is to a spirit of generosity, which it certainly is. However, the narratives also take us to places in Jesus’ life where that spirit meets the reality of injustice, at which point the needs – and the stakes – become much higher.
In much of affluent society, service is defined as charity, as giving what one judges to be a helpful contribution to a worthy cause. While certainly a worthwhile activity, charity also has a critical limitation. It is designed to provide “detached comfort”, requiring neither personal involvement with the suffering nor a commitment to address the causes of their suffering. This can have the result – intended or unintended – of promoting sympathy rather than with empathy. Sympathy allows for a mere emotional response to those in need. We can feel badly for them without ever really having to ever consider them as other than “them”. On the other hand, service defined as compassion calls us to know the suffering not “them”, but as us. We move to them because we do not distinguish between their dignity and ours, between their world and ours. Service as empathy affirms and strengthens our God-given solidarity with one another.
Author Rachel Naomi Remen writes, “When we serve, we see the unborn wholeness in others; we collaborate with it and strengthen it. Others may then be able to see their wholeness for themselves for the first time.” The time of Lent is an opportunity to contemplate our experience of serving others. Our Gospel tradition is that to serve is to relate cum passio, to be one with others in their struggle to find their silenced voices, stolen freedom, lost happiness. Just as Christ served so that all might have life and have it to the full, we are sent in his name to serve in the same way.
Prayer
Eternal Father, on this day in Lent, we pray that you bless us with the virtue of compassion. Give us clear minds and open hearts to see you and to know you, especially in the face of the stranger and in the cries of the poor. May we never be hardened to your presence or to the wonder of your love at work among us, however challenging it might be. Heal us by your Spirit and fill us with zeal to be the hand of your compassion in our world. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one god forever and ever. Amen.