Memorial of Pope St. Paul VI (+1978),

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Mark 10,32-45

They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem; Jesus was walking on ahead of them; they were in a daze, and those who followed were apprehensive. Once more taking the Twelve aside he began to tell them what was going to happen to him, 'Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man is about to be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the gentiles, who will mock him and spit at him and scourge him and put him to death; and after three days he will rise again.' James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him. 'Master,' they said to him, 'We want you to do us a favour.' He said to them, 'What is it you want me to do for you?' They said to him, 'Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.' But Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I shall drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I shall be baptised?' They replied, 'We can.' Jesus said to them, 'The cup that I shall drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I shall be baptised you shall be baptised, but as for seats at my right hand or my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted.' When the other ten heard this they began to feel indignant with James and John, so Jesus called them to him and said to them, 'You know that among the gentiles those they call their rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. Among you this is not to happen. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all. For the Son of man himself came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Gospel shows us Jesus as he continues to travel to Jerusalem with his disciples. And it is not by chance that the evangelist notes that he "was walking ahead of them," just as a shepherd does, showing his responsibility of one who leads with love those who have been entrusted to him. Jesus confides his followers, for the third time, what will happen to him in Jerusalem. The apostles - and the others are "amazed." After Jesus said these thigs, James and John approach him and ask him to sit at his right hand, that is, to have a high and important place. This is even sadder for the strident contrast with what Jesus just confided to his disciples. Once again, as it happened shortly before, the disciples are very far from their Teacher's words. Besides, they were still slaves to the mentality of the world. They could not think of Jesus as a condensed and killed Messiah! Jesus teaches to them what power should mean among Christians: "Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all." Jesus indicates that the path of the disciple: to serve the brothers and sisters and the poor freely and generously. In the Christian community is first the one who serves. And the one who wants to be first should be first in serving rather than in commanding. Jesus shows the example first: "the Son of Man [who] came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." Every Christian, just like the community to which he or she belongs, is called to contemplate Jesus and imitate him.