Daily Gospel Reflection: Wednesday of the Second Week in Lent
February 28, 2024
Wednesday of the Second Week in Lent
Gospel: Mt 20:17-28
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem,
he took the Twelve disciples aside by themselves,
and said to them on the way,
"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem,
and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests
and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death,
and hand him over to the Gentiles
to be mocked and scourged and crucified,
and he will be raised on the third day."
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons
and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something.
He said to her, "What do you wish?"
She answered him,
"Command that these two sons of mine sit,
one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom."
Jesus said in reply,
"You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?"
They said to him, "We can."
He replied,
"My chalice you will indeed drink,
but to sit at my right and at my left,
this is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father."
When the ten heard this,
they became indignant at the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them and said,
"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."
*United States Conference of Catholic
Bishop Robert Barron
Friends, in today’s Gospel, the mother of James and John asks Jesus in their name that they be honored in his kingdom.
Jesus patiently attends to their request and tries to clarify and redirect it. Then his final answer comes: “But to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
The Father has prepared the place for one who will reign with Jesus when he comes into his glory. On Good Friday afternoon, the good thief turned to the crucified Jesus and made a request that was similar to that of James and John: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And to him Jesus responded, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
This crucified criminal was indeed in the very place that James and John, in their naïve ambition, coveted. The one who was drinking the same cup of suffering as Jesus was privileged to reign with him. Let there be no limit to your ambition, as long as it conduces you to that place alongside the crucified Christ.
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