JESUS, can we drink the cup that you drink or be baptized with the baptism with which you are baptized? Can we really do this?
Can we accept failures? Can we accept imperfections in people, in church, in government, in business? Can we forgive and understand those who annoy us, who do not share our thoughts, who we consider idiots, old-fashioned, liberal, traditional?
Can we be content with being average, simple, anonymous, ordinary? Can we take the back seat, become mere followers?
Can we be patient with long lines, long wait, long conversations? Can we withstand criticism, face one’s enemies, follow one’s peers? Can we compromise, meet in the middle, share resources, be in the same room? Can we let go of one’s opinions, listen without arguing, agree without defending, be silent instead of fighting back?
Can we accept one’s mistakes, relate back with someone, work as a team player? Can we leave our biases behind, associate with those who don’t speak our language, who don’t share our culture or color of skin? Can we throw out one’s arrogance, feelings of superiority and prestige?
Can we be at peace with being old—with having wrinkled faces and disproportionate body parts, poor eyesight, and weak legs? Can we listen to the young, allow others to take charge, celebrate the achievements of others? Can we accept changes in family, society, religion or faith community?
Can we take care of old people and deal with their idiosyncrasies? Can we be compassionate with the sick, the alcoholic, the drug addict, the lunatic?
Can we tolerate bad odor, pollution of all kinds, whether it is air, noise or water? Can we deal with poor conditions without sacrificing our ideals?
Can we be happy with personal achievements and be content with one’s fate? Can we support and affirm our leaders? Can we motivate those below us and recognize their gifts and contributions?
“Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized in the baptism with which I am baptized?” This was the question of Jesus to his two disciples, James and John, who were jockeying for the best seats in heaven. Jesus realized that he two ambitious brothers did not have a clue to what they were asking. Before they could take the right and the left seats in God’s Kingdom, they must prove that they are well-deserving—that is, only after carrying the crosses and inconveniences of life and ministry with love, faith, hope, and patience; that is, only after imitating the Teacher and the Master of all in His life of total self-abasement.
Once again, the Gospel reminds us that to be the greatest in the Kingdom of God, one must be the least of all.
Can we?
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Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].
