JULY252025

Since the sixth century the Pope in Rome has called himself the “servant of the servants of God.” Even popes who ruled as renaissance princes used the title. In doing so they were imitating the words of Jesus:  “the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” These words were are reaction to the request from Mrs. Zebedee that her sons, James and John, be given places of power and honor and after the other ten objected that they should be the one’s on the dais. Jesus wanted the twelve and wants us to understand that being his follower is not about what we get out of it but what we give into it. The cup Jesus proposes to the disciples is one of self-sacrifice. There is a line in the old instruction before a wedding: “Sacrifice is usually difficult and irksome, only love can make it easy and perfect love can make it a joy.” That is what Jesus was offering to the twelve, the joy of sacrificing oneself in loving service.