LOVE’S DESIRE FOR GREATNESS
I am blessed with a mother who has a lot of pride and love for her kids. She has great desires for the three of us to have the best life. This leads to her generous practical and emotional support that I am incredibly grateful for. There have been just a few times, though, when my mom’s desires for me have felt overbearing. When I was applying to colleges, she hacked into my account, asking if I could apply late to an honor program that I wasn’t actually interested in. When I was in my first serious romantic relationship, she liked the guy and the hope of our future so much, she nudged me back into the relationship even though it was not the right place for me to be at the time. Though she may have overreached, I know these moments were rooted in a loving desire for her daughter to be happy and succeed. The mother of James and John in today’s Gospel, also had great dreams for her sons. She just didn’t understand what would fulfill their lives.
Sometimes we get it wrong. If not from our parents and families, many of us grow up with a model of happiness that doesn’t always suit God’s plan for us. We are surrounded by a culture that says to be happy and fulfilled in life we need to accomplish this, that or the other… scroll through social media and you can fill in the gaps.
Jesus offers a different means to fulfillment - the great stumbling block for the disciples in today’s Gospel. Before being raised, He “will be mocked, scourged and crucified.” And in order to save our lives, we need to become servants to one another. What parent would want this for their child? Notably, the mother from today’s Gospel asks Jesus to place her sons on his right and left right after He has disclosed this excruciating fate. On one hand, her bold request reveals her great faith in Jesus. While Peter responds to the same message of Jesus’ self sacrifice with angry resistance (Mark 8:32), she nudges her sons toward it.
Jesus redirects the mother and her sons, though, with the assurance that only He can be the ransom. Jesus reminds us today that God alone can steer our lives to fulfillment, with our collaboration. And lucky for us, He will handle the big picture. We are given a more simple albeit challenging task for our every day: love one another and present your life as a gift for those who are in low places. These small acts will become a life fulfilled by love, a life magnified by God’s presence. I will not always get it right, and it may look different than me or my parents envisioned, but I trust it will be greater than we imagined.
Are there any dreams for your future you’d like to place in God’s hands? Is there anything you need to let go of to be grounded in the present day, freed to receive the love God offers and love back? Who might God be nudging you to “be there for”?
Catherine Holcombe
Photo credit: Champ’s Closet