Homily

Jesus and the disciples "went on from there and passed through Galilee." These words from Mark’s Gospel bring us into the journey that Jesus had just begun from Galilee to Jerusalem. It is a journey that the evangelist will write about in the following chapters more than once. The journey is obviously not about an itinerary traversing space. The journey that the Lord makes with the disciples is symbolic; it symbolizes life’s journey, the journey of spiritual growth, much like the journey we are called to make with the Lord, Sunday after Sunday during each liturgical year. The scene that the Gospel presents us with is simple: Jesus gathers up his disciples and "walks in front of them"-just as a shepherd guides his flock-leading them toward Jerusalem. This beautiful Gospel image reveals to us the gathering together of Christians every Sunday around the Teacher and Shepherd. While walking along the road, as was usual for him to do, Jesus speaks with his disciples. But this time he does not seem like a teacher, but rather like a friend opening up his heart to his closest friends.
Jesus, who is not a stoic and solitary hero capable of doing everything, needs to confide in his friends, sharing the most secret thoughts paining his heart at that moment. He tells them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him." This is the second time he spoke to them about this. When he told them of this the first time, he bitterly rebuked Peter for having tried to dissuade him from going to Jerusalem. Jesus feels the need to confide in them again. Evidently, an immense anxiety is oppressing him, the same kind that he will feel in the garden at Gethsemane and that will make him sweat blood. Once again, however, not one of the disciples comprehends Jesus’ thoughts and feelings, notwithstanding the familiarity that had been created between him and the disciples. And yet it was not difficult to recall some of the passages from scripture where the life of the righteous is described as being full of tribulation.
The Book of Wisdom speaks precisely about a plot that the wicked and powerful scheme with self-assurance and impunity against the righteous, "Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training... Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected" (2:12-20). Perhaps the disciples will recall these words only at the end of their journey in Jerusalem, words that will become true to the letter on the cross. For now, no one understands. And yet, the words are dramatically clear. But why do the disciples not understand? The answer is simple: because their minds and hearts are far from the mind and heart of their Teacher; their worries and concerns are different from those of Jesus. How could they understand while being so far from Jesus? Jesus is anguished by his impending death, while they are preoccupied with their standing among each other, wondering who among them is the first.
What happens next in this Gospel story is disarming. The evangelist writes that Jesus during the journey was alone, ahead of the group of disciples, who remained behind without taking notice of their Teacher’s dramatic words, and began to argue among themselves about who was the greatest. Upon arriving at a house in Capernaum, Jesus asked them what they were discussing, but "they were silent," the evangelist notes. Finally, at least they felt somewhat ashamed by what they had discussed. And that was good. Shame is the first step toward conversion. Shame, in fact, is born from recognizing one’s distance from Jesus and from the Gospel. Sin is being distant from Jesus before it is some particularly bad act that someone commits. And if we do not feel any shame for being distant, then we need to be worried about it. When we do not feel ashamed for our sin, when we soften the blow of our evil deeds on our conscience, when we do not feel the weight of our sin, we then exclude ourselves from receiving forgiveness. The true tragedy of our life would be if we had no one to question us as Jesus did with his disciples when he asked, "What were you arguing about on the way?" then we will remain prisoners of ourselves and of our miserable self-assurance.
Sunday is the day of forgiveness because we are able to draw near once again to the Lord who speaks to us, who questions us, who permits to us to become aware of our poverty and our sin. The evangelist writes, "Jesus sat down, called the twelve," and began to explain the Gospel to them again and to correct their misguided thoughts and behaviour. This scene is emblematic for the Christian community. We could say that this scene is like an icon. Each one of us and each Christian community should gather together frequently around the Gospel to listen to the Lord’s teaching, to nourish themselves with the bread from heaven, to correct their behaviour, and to fill their hearts and minds again with the Lord’s thoughts and feelings. Jesus, looking upon his small group of disciples with hope, began to speak and completely overturned their concepts, "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." James and John also will speak in the same way, "Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all" (Mk 10:43-44).
Jesus does not seem to contest the disciples’ search to be first, to be great, but overturns completely their underlying conception of seeking greatness; he says that the one who is first serves, not the one who commands. And so that they would better understand what he wanted to say, Jesus takes a small child, embraces him and puts him at the centre of the group of disciples. This centre is not just a physical centre, but is also the centre of attention, of concern and of the heart. That child-the Lord wants to say to the disciples-should be at the centre both of their and of the Christian community’s attention. And he explains why, "Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." Jesus’ affirmation is unsettling; in the small, the weak, the defenceless, the poor, the sick, in those whom society discards and pushes away, Jesus, even the Father himself, is present.