Sunday Gospel

Mk 9:30-37

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee,
but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
He was teaching his disciples and telling them,
“The Son of Man is to be handed over to men
and they will kill him,
and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.”
But they did not understand the saying,
and they were afraid to question him.

They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent.
They had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.”
Taking a child, he placed it in their midst,
and putting his arms around it,

 

he said to them,
“Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me;
and whoever receives me,
receives not me but the One who sent me.”

Jesus often seems to ask questions when he knows the answer. It is a clever device. It's not accusatory, nor dishonest. I can imagine Him asking with a smile, the way a parent might after overhearing two children arguing. It's a way of building a bridge. It's better than "Why were you arguing about ...".

In our minds we are like the apostles. Continuously weighing up our relationships. Christianity fosters humility. Pride and arrogance have no place in the Church.