Whoever wants to be first, let him be the servant of all: Commentary by Fr. Jorge Miró

Fr. Jorge Miró shares with Exaudi readers his commentary on the Gospel of this Sunday, September 22, 2024, entitled “Whoever wants to be first, let him be the servant of all”

***

In the Gospel, we contemplate Jesus crossing Galilee with his disciples, who did not quite understand his words.

And in Capernaum, he asks them: What were you arguing about on the road? They were silent, for on the way they had argued about who was the most important.

On your life’s path, Jesus asks you the same question today too: What are you arguing about on the road? What are the desires of your heart? What are your centers of interest in conversations with your family, with your friends?

And the Word draws our attention to some worrying issues that can occupy our hearts and distract us from following Jesus Christ.

Where there is envy and rivalry, there is turbulence and all kinds of evil actions.

Envy can take root in a heart that doubts God’s love; in a heart incapable of discovering God’s love in everyday life and, therefore, it easily ends in resentment and bitterness, and is a source of conflict.

Where do the conflicts and struggles that occur among you come from? From the desire for pleasure, from envy, from ambition.

The wisdom that comes from above is, firstly, blameless, and it is also gentle, understanding, conciliatory, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

It is the gift of wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit and enables us to see God in the midst of everyday life; And so, life has flavor, it has meaning, beyond the concrete circumstances, because the Holy Spirit is there making everything new, and then one lives the experience that there is nothing and no one that can separate me from the love of God, and I can do everything in Him who strengthens me (cf. Rom 8:38; Phil 4:13).

Whoever wants to be first, let him be the last of all and the servant of all. Jesus Christ warns us against the danger of seeking vanity, the applause of men, of looking good before others and not serving them, but serving yourself of them. We are called to serve others, not to serve ourselves of them. As Jesus did, who being rich became poor to enrich us with his poverty. One ascends to heaven by descending.

The secret of true greatness is to become small, like a child. This is true humility, without which one cannot be a disciple: whoever welcomes a child like this in my name, welcomes me.

Children symbolize true disciples. We must welcome the kingdom like a little child, receiving it with simplicity as a gift from the Father, rather than demanding it as a right.

For this reason, Jesus will tell Nicodemus that one must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God: born of water and the Spirit (cf. Jn 3:5).

Come, Holy Spirit!