March 15, 2006

Sister Joan Irene

Mt 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 givebut 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.”
We will share the chalice...the suffering, the sacrifice but our place in God's plan is not for us to claim but for God to grant as gift. No one can ask for honor or glory in God's eyes. I can do the will of God...drink the cup which is not a simple thing..but that is the greatest that I can do nothing else will be used to determine where I will be in God's eyes and in God's time and place...I wonder sometimes what heaven will be like ....but then I just trust that when I know it is God's will that if I follow all will be well...Shepherd me Oh God beyond my fears, beyond my thought to life in You..