North of the Shire

Here is the Gospel reading from March 11/09,

Matthew 20: 17 - 28
17	And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,
18	“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death,
19	and deliver him to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
20	Then the mother of the sons of Zeb’edee came up to him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something.
21	And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”
22	But Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.”
23	He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
24	And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers.
25	But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.
26	It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
27	and whoever would be first among you must be your slave;
28	even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

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In his homily on EWTN Father Mitch Pacwa points out something, in an oblique way, that I had never seen in this passage.  (It was a very packed sermon with a strong message from the passage from Jeremiah as well)

But here he goes into this desire on the part of the two disciples, through the intercession of their mother, to sit at Jesus right and left when he takes over his kingdom.  Nevermind the fact that those disciples as yet had no idea of what that kingdom really was, their desire for self-aggrandizement is also comparible to the other disciples, notably Peter whom our Lord rebuked, who at various times were not willing to hear the message that Jesus was going to die, was going to be crucified.  Father Pacwa says that this is analogous to our own tendency to self-aggrandizement to this very day, and it is manifest when we remove the Crucifix from front and center in our sanctuaries, and later move the tabernacle, and bring more and more people up to participate and face the congregation and generally lose the focus of being on our knees before God in thankfulness, making our liturgy more into a self-congratualatory celebration than a worship of God the giver of all things.

I have expanded slightly on what Father Mitch said, but for the entire homily, go here.