A story
is told about a man who was shown by an angel the difference between heaven and
hell. The angel invited him “come, I will show you hell.” They entered a room
where a group of hungry people sat around a long, big table filled with
sumptuous food. But everyone in the room was starving. Each person held a spoon
that reached the table but each spoon had a handle so much longer than their
own arms that it could not be used to get the food into their own mouths. So
they ended up pale and emaciated despite so much food. Their suffering was
terrible.
“Come
now, I will show you heaven” the angel said. They entered a room
identical to the first, the long and big table filled with sumptuous food, the
group of people and the same long-handled spoons. But here everyone was happy
and well nourished. “I don’t understand” said the man. “Why is everyone happy
here and miserable in the other room? Everything is the same.” “Here, said the
angel, they have learned to serve each other.”
Heaven
is a place where people are happy because they love and care for each other. They
show their love by serving each other. Instead hell is a sad place because each
just thinks of himself.
In
today’s Gospel (Mk 9:30-37), Jesus reveals to us the way to heaven and the
secret of happiness. Our reading is situated on the road to Capernaum where
Jesus makes a second prediction of his passion, death and resurrection. He was
teaching them again that he was a “suffering messiah.” They just left Mt. Tabor
where Jesus was transfigured. He showed them his glory to strengthen their
faith when the dark hours would arrive. Still, after all these instructions on
selflessness, the disciples did not understand what the following of Jesus
would entail. Along the way they were arguing who was the most important among
them. They could not resist the lure of power and prestige. They were still
ambitious men seeking glory and importance.
Jesus
uses this occasion to teach them (and all of us) three things:
1. Service
Jesus
insists that his followers serve. He came to serve and not to be served. This
is the measure of greatness in God’s kingdom. When I entered the seminary, one
of the first things that “shocked” me was manual work. Everybody was given a
chore to do – washing dishes, sweeping long corridors, mopping the dormitory or
scrubbing toilets. It was something done daily, 7 times a week. At first I had
a feeling of disgust. At home, I acted like a boss. Somebody else would clean
up my mess. But in the seminary, there were no janitors. So everyone has a
share in the cleaning. We were trained to serve one another. Now as a priest, I
realize that training formed my character. Service has become a 2nd
nature to me – a habit I have acquired. My former companions in the seminary,
who now have families of their own, are also grateful for the training. It made
them responsible and service-oriented persons who work not just for the
pay-check. Jesus wants us to learn the joy of serving each other.
2. Sacrifice
To
be disciples of Jesus, one has to follow the Master. Jesus openly shared his
impending sufferings. It is necessary to carry the cross. One video I saw in
Youtube on “Discipleship” depicts people carrying their own crosses. They were
travelling in one direction and each one really felt the pain of their individual
burden. Then one among them stopped. Put down his heavy cross and complained to
God. “Lord, my cross is so heavy, can I shorten it a bit?” Without waiting for
the Lord’s reply, he took a saw and cut a little piece of his cross. Then he
continued to move on. Further on, he stopped again and complained. He again
took a saw and shortened his cross that it became much lighter. It became so
light that he did not feel anymore pain. He carried his cross whistling along
the way. However, they came to a cliff. The only way to crossover was the use
of their individual crosses as bridge. Everyone was able to cross except this
complaining guy. He was stranded because his cross was not long enough. Lesson:
our cross is the bridge to reach God’s kingdom. It is a necessary sacrifice.
3. Simplicity
Jesus
uses a child as an icon of simplicity. Children are not pretentious nor are
they prone to be ambitious. Once I was talking with a mother, she told me that
her son at first wanted to be a doctor because he wanted to help his many sick
neighbors. Later, he changed his mind. He was inspired to be a security guard
so that he could help children cross the streets. Such is the ambition of a
little child. Instead, adults often times, have much sophisticated ambitions
not really to help others but to help themselves.
Let
us ask for the grace of service, sacrifice and simplicity from Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment