Note: The daily reading reflections will be marked by the number of days to Good Friday.
As I noted in the reflection on "Total Agony Love," it is not the desire for personal or material benefit that is the source of the most powerful passions in people. If it is, it is only because we have lost the sense of our true purpose to such an extent that our hardwiring has been perverted to selfishness. What brings us true happiness--and this we know in the depths of our being--is to give love to other people. It is the one who gives who really finds happiness. Thus "the one who wishes to be great among you must be your slave," Jesus says in the gospel of today's readings.
In the Old Testament reading and the Psalm we are confronted with situations where the messenger's enemies are paying close attention to his words and deeds in the hope of catching him in some inconsistency or scandal. In both passages the messengers turn to God for counsel as to how to deal with these harsh critics and plotters.
The answer given to the messengers back then and today to us is received from Jesus. He acknowledges readily in the Gospel that he will be handed over and condemned to death. He recognizes and accepts that his critics and those plotting against him will stop at nothing. Just so, we must accept that we will be scrutinized, and criticized, often with no justification, and that there is really nothing we can do about it as long as we are Christians. But at the same time he notes the way to confound these critics, to frustrate their search for some justification to put him to death.
He tells his disciples to serve them.
"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.
Authority that seeks to serve only its own interests can be and is easily intimidated by the scrutiny of its constituents. But authority that seeks to serve its beloved need not fear anything. If we are being scrutinized and criticized in our own lives, we need only resolve that the primary motivating factor behind our actions is to serve our sisters and brothers. If we do that, no slander can harm us.
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