the greatest among you shall be your servant

Fr. Tom Konopka
Mar 4
2 min read

Today’s gospel was the first gospel I offered a public reflection on while I was in college. Every time I have read it since, I am drawn to the last lines:

Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave

These are sobering words to anyone called to leadership in the church. It is easy to be caught up in power. It can be intoxicating for many. Jesus reminds us today that if we want greatness, then we must be servants of the rest. I think the root of the service of the clergy is rooted in baptism. The call of the baptized is serve the world in the name of Jesus.

We are to be a church of mission; but we need to remember whose mission we are about. Our mission is the mission of Jesus and for his glory and honor. The mother of the sons of Zebedee was not a bad person; she wanted the best for her sons. The problem was she did not understand the challenge of following Jesus. For any follower of Jesus, the Cross looms because to be authentic disciples will mean to align ourselves with the powerless, the poor, the needy and to serve them as we would serve a great king. The life of the Christian is a life of service; the life of the priest is to serve the People of God.

This Lent I am being challenged to see if my vocation to the priesthood is being lived as Jesus calls me to. The root of the call of baptism is to serve the rest. For all of us, we need to honestly measure our faithfulness to our baptismal call with today’s Gospel.

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