If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all

23 SEPTEMBER (Mk 9, 30-37)

St. Paul knows what the mystery of his calling is. The Lord has chosen him for the last place, that of the servant of all, for love. His ministry is real service to the Gospel.

Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Now it is of course required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord. Therefore, do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God. I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written, 2 so that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over against another. Who confers distinction upon you? What do you possess that you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it? You are already satisfied; you have already grown rich; you have become kings 3 without us! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we also might become kings with you. 4 For as I see it, God has exhibited us apostles as the last of all, like people sentenced to death, since we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and human beings alike. We are fools on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clad and roughly treated, we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands. When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently. We have become like the world’s rubbish, the scum of all, to this very moment. (1Cor 4,1-13).

From birth to death, from the cave to the cross, Jesus has always lived the last place. He knows that all salvation is possible, but only from the last place. A rich man cannot speak to a poor, if not becoming poor like him. A highly placed person cannot speak to a person of humble condition, if not becoming humble like him. This is the law of the credibility of the mission of salvation. Jesus speaks as a God from our flesh, making himself in all equal to us, except in sin, which he never knew. Jesus did not commit even a very small venial sin.

They 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 he 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.”

The Apostles do not yet know the true mystery of their vocation and play at being great. They do not even know how the future kingdom of God will be, but they already are arguing about the highest places. With infinite and utmost patience, Jesus begins their education in the true service in his kingdom. You do not command but you serve in it, you do not put yourself up but down, you are never the first because you must always be the last. You do not become the kingdom of God to be revered, loved, esteemed, acclaimed, but to revere, love, esteem, and acclaim the Lord giving him to every heart. Never might who stays above convert a heart, never save a soul, and never redeem a person.

This is the great difference between the kingdom of God and the one of the prince of this world. At the devil, master of arrogance, one rises. In Jesus, Master of true humility, we shall humble ourselves, we become lowered, we become the last, we always become like children, little. Who does not become a child cannot work in the kingdom of God and if he works as old, adult person, he will work exclusively for the devil. As an adult he quite soon will be transformed into an instrument of Satan for the destruction of the kingdom of God.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels, and Saints make us small, small, small.