Today’s gospel recounts the memorable request which James and John made to Jesus.  They wanted to have places of honor in his kingdom.  They wanted to be his closest associates, his lieutenants, his right-hand men.  Our Lord responds essentially by saying: you guys have no idea what you’re asking for.  They don’t yet see that Our Lord has to be, and is, the great high priest of sacrifice: the one whom the prophet Isaiah was talking about in the words we heard today: he will give away his life as an offering for sin; his suffering shall justify many, and he will bear the guilt of their sins.  Not your ordinary royal palace activity; and not your ordinary royal family.  A king whose authority comes from his service and his sacrifice.  Human rulers, our Lord says, rule by lording over others.  But for him and for us, it will not be so.  For us, whoever would be greatest must be the greatest of servants.  Whoever would be first must be first in humility.  This king came not be served but to serve.  The Lord repeats this idea again and again: his whole life was a service and a sacrifice for others, both the little everyday details of his life, and his life as a whole: every single thing, and all things taken together, are sacrifice.  His doctrine is a constant appeal to forget about self and live for others. 

We want to imitate him.  We take him at his word that this is what will actually make us happy in this life and prepare us for the life to come.  Not being pompous bureaucrats at work and toward our family and toward our friends, but being true servants.  As followers of Christ’s example, we should be ready to give cheerful service to God and to others without expecting anything in return.  And that’s a real key for us.  In another place the Lord reminds us not to pat ourselves on the back too much if we’re only good to people who are good to us in return; if our kindness is reserved for those who can do things for us.  Now we should be kind to everyone of course.  But in the case of those who can and probably will return our kindness, we have to be careful about our motivations; they might not be pure.  But if we’re good and kind to people who can’t or won’t return the favor; if we’re good and kind anonymously; if we’re good and kind even to those who seem to be our enemies: that’s when we know we’ve started to accept the message our Lord wants to give us.  And it helps.  It’s a habit that we can form over time.  If we form this virtue, if we form this virtuous habit of doing good to those who can’t repay us, then gradually over time we will become accustomed to that mindset; that approach will become more and more natural, the more the habit sets in.  And then, when we do good to those who perhaps can repay us, that won’t be why we’re doing it.  We will have purified our hearts of our selfish motives.  But we have to work at this.  This is a lifelong task.  There will always be some give and take as our selfish tendencies rear their ugly heads from time to time.  So we keep praying for humility and selflessness in our service to God and others.  We try to form good habits of selfless giving, without counting the cost, without counting the gain.   And we keep fueling ourselves for this great task with the spiritual food of the Holy Eucharist, which purifies our minds, settles our hearts, and renews our zeal for the Kingdom of God.  Because the Eucharist is the greatest example of this: Our Lord gave his very self for us on the cross, that day, that Good Friday, his body broken and his blood shed for us, expecting nothing at all in return.  And he gives himself to us again and again, in every Holy Mass.  May your love convert us from our pride, O Lord, and may your mercy be upon us, who have our placed our hope in you.