May 27, 2026
Wednesday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 349
Reading 1
Beloved:
Realize that you were ransomed from your futile conduct,
handed on by your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold
but with the precious Blood of Christ
as of a spotless unblemished Lamb.
He was known before the foundation of the world
but revealed in the final time for you,
who through him believe in God
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are in God.
Since you have purified yourselves
by obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love,
love one another intensely from a pure heart.
You have been born anew,
not from perishable but from imperishable seed,
through the living and abiding word of God, for:
"All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like the flower of the field;
the grass withers,
and the flower wilts;
but the word of the Lord remains forever."
This is the word that has been proclaimed to you.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has granted peace in your borders;
with the best of wheat he fills you.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them. Alleluia.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Son of Man came to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
The disciples were on the way, going up to Jerusalem,
and Jesus went ahead of them.
They were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them
what was going to happen to him.
"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man
will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes,
and they will condemn him to death
and hand him over to the Gentiles who will mock him,
spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death,
but after three days he will rise."
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee,
came to Jesus and said to him,
"Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you."
He replied, "What do you wish me to do for you?"
They answered him,
"Grant that in your glory
we may sit one at your right and the other at your left."
Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking.
Can you drink the chalice that I drink
or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?"
They said to him, "We can."
Jesus said to them, "The chalice that I drink, you will drink,
and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized;
but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give
but is for those for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them,
"You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles
lord it over them,
and their great ones make their authority over them felt.
But it shall not be so among you.
Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant;
whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.
For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052726.cfm
Commentary on 1
Peter 1:18-25
Peter reminds us that we have been “ransomed” (“redeemed” in
some translations). In the Scriptures, to ‘ransom’ (literally, ‘buy
back’) means to free someone from something bad by paying a penalty.
Similarly, in the Greek world slaves could be made free by the payment of
a price, either by someone else or by the slave himself.
In this case, the ransom price is not silver or gold, but
something far more precious, Christ’s own blood poured out for us by his death
on the cross. The result is the forgiveness of sin and our reconciliation
with God.
The readers are told that they have been “ransomed from the
futile conduct”—an empty way of life that had been handed down by their
ancestors. Some maintain that the letter is addressed to former pagans,
because the New Testament stresses the emptiness of pagan life. Others
think they may have been Jews, since Jews were traditionalists who stressed the
influence of keeping the Law. A life based simply on the observance of
external laws could not bring salvation and redemption. In the light of
the context of the whole letter, probably both Jews and Gentiles are addressed.
They have been redeemed (or “ransomed”):
…with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb
without defect or blemish.
This unblemished Lamb was foreseen long ago in God’s plan to
bring us all back to him and replace all other animal sacrifices of the Old
Testament, which were only a pale foreshadowing of what was to come. The Old
Testament sacrifices were types (or foreshadowings) of Christ, depicting the
ultimate and only effective sacrifice. An unblemished lamb was the
centrepiece at the Passover meal. But for us, Jesus Christ is the Passover
Lamb:
…the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
(John 1:29)
IIt is through this Lamb, raised by the Father into glory,
that we have become believers in God. As well, through our faith and hope, our
lives have become centred on God, the only source of meaning to our lives.
Before time began, Jesus was already chosen, but only
revealed in these times to those who are called:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
and
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of
all creation… (Col 1:15)
Some think the Greek for the word ‘chosen’ better translates
as ‘foreknown’. In other words, God knew before creation that it would be
necessary for Christ to redeem the human race, but he has revealed Christ only
in these last times. Others interpret the word as meaning that in past
eternity God chose Christ as Redeemer. It is through this Jesus, raised from
the dead to eternal glory, that we put all our faith and trust in God.
Our submission to this understanding of our origins leads
necessarily and unavoidably to a deep love for our brothers and sisters:
…you have genuine mutual affection, love one another
deeply from the heart.
All in all, our being re-born is the result of an enduring
seed planted in our heart. That seed is the Word of God. Our new birth comes
about through the direct action of the Holy Spirit, but the “living and
enduring” word of God also plays an important role, for it presents the gospel
to the sinner and calls on us to repent and believe in Christ.
The writer concludes by quoting from the prophet Isaiah who
says:
All flesh is like grass…
The grass withers…but the word of the Lord endures forever. (Is
40:6-8)
It is this word which the Letter is proclaiming, a word
which is a source of life. It is the gospel which we hear proclaimed to
us. That gospel can be summed up in the two points brought up in today’s
passage:
- We
have been bought back from sin by the priceless blood of the Lamb, poured
out on the cross for us.
- We
show our gratitude for this by the unconditional love we show for our
brothers and sisters everywhere.
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Commentary on Mark
10:32-45
We now come to the third and final foretelling of his
passion, death and resurrection by Jesus. It is not insignificant that it
follows immediately on the story of the rich man and the teaching of Jesus that
goes with it. We are now going to see what being a disciple of Jesus
really means.
The first sentence is a statement of fact, but full of
meaning:
They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem…
They were on the road—not just any road—but the road…and
that road goes to Jerusalem and points to all that Jerusalem will mean for
Jesus and his followers. Jesus is the Road—the Way—and his way brings him
to Jerusalem, the carrying of his cross, the letting go of his life in love of
his Father and us, leading to the final triumph. Those who wish to be his
disciples have to be ready to walk that road with him.
The disciples have not quite reached this stage of
discipleship yet. As Jesus steps out firmly on the road to Jerusalem, his
disciples straggle behind. The Apostles:
…were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
As far as they were concerned, Jesus was out of his
mind. To go to Jerusalem at this time was asking for trouble, serious
trouble. Everyone knew the Jewish leadership was out to get Jesus.
Jerusalem was the last place to go.
Jesus shows them he is under no illusion about the
situation. He gives them a detailed description of what is going to
happen to him, more detailed than in the previous foretellings. The key
term “handed over” is used again and, for the first time, a handing over to the
“Gentiles” is mentioned. Condemnation to death will come from the leaders
of his people, but the carrying out of the execution will be the work of the
Romans. It was not just some Jews who were responsible for Jesus’ death;
we were there, too, in the person of the Roman Gentiles.
Nevertheless, earlier on the disciples had acknowledged
Jesus as the Messiah and Saviour-King of Israel. In the second prediction
they had revealed an awareness that what Jesus was predicting was going to
happen and so debated who his successor might be. Now, for the first
time, the last part of the prediction—rising after three days—seems to be
getting through.
Perhaps it was in that frame of mind that Jesus is
approached by two of his closest disciples, James and John. However, it
is also clear that they showed little understanding of all that Jesus had
taught them so far. They approached him gingerly:
Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.
Replies Jesus:
What is it you want me to do for you?
(Note the question, because we will meet it again in
tomorrow’s reading.)
The answer of the two brothers indicates how little they
have understood of the mind of Jesus:
Appoint us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your
left, in your glory.
Left unstated was their reasoning: “After all, you did say
three times that you were going to rise again after your death.”
This is a perfect example of using a personal acquaintance
or relationship to get in by the back door and obtain a favour otherwise out of
reach. And by “glory” they are almost certainly thinking in worldly terms of
Jesus as an earthly, victorious, all conquering king. The kind of person
they expected the Messiah to be.
Jesus tells them:
You do not know what you are asking.
They neither know the kind of King Jesus is going to be, nor
do they know the price he is going to pay to enter that kingship. This is
clear from the next question he puts to them:
Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized
with the baptism that I am baptized with?
This is a clear reference to Jesus’ passion and death, the
price he will pay to reveal God’s love for his children.
We remember, later in the garden, as the weight of his
coming passion presses him down, Jesus prays that the cup be taken away.
“Baptism” implies a total immersion, and Jesus will be totally overwhelmed with
suffering and shame and humiliation.
Do the two disciples realise this? Are they ready to
go through this with Jesus on their way to the privileges and glory they are
asking for? “We are able” they confidently boast without realising just
what is involved. In fact, with the rest of their companions, they will
scatter and disappear when these events overtake their Master.
Nevertheless, looking further ahead, Jesus generously tells
them that they will indeed one day share Jesus’ cup and his baptism of
suffering and death. James would be one of the first martyrs of the young
Church. However, as to giving them the places of honour they were looking
for, that was beyond Jesus’ power to give:
…to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to
appoint, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.
In other words, these places are not just for the asking;
they have to be earned. They will be given, not to those who furtively
ask, but to those whose love most closely approaches that of Jesus himself.
Not surprisingly, the other ten were highly indignant when
they found out what James and John had done behind their backs. They were
not indignant at the impropriety or the daring, but that they had been beaten
to it…they wanted exactly the same things themselves.
Following the same pattern as the other previous incidents,
the prediction of the Passion and Resurrection is followed by a show of
misunderstanding by the disciples, leading to a teaching. And that is what
comes now.
Jesus now patiently gives them another lesson on what real
greatness in his Kingdom consists of. In the ‘world’, “among the gentiles”, to
be great is to have power over others, to exercise authority, to be able to
control and manipulate people to be at your disposal, to use people to attain your
ends. However, in Jesus’ world, those really great put themselves and
their unique gifts to use by promoting the well-being of brothers and sisters,
especially those in most need. And the more people we can serve the
greater we are.
‘Authority’ is not to control, but to empower. And it
is the role of anyone in authority to generate ideas, energy and creativity in
those for whom one is responsible—in other words to serve those who have been
entrusted to one’s authority. But it is a corruption of the word to
become ‘authoritarian’ in such a position. After 2,000 years of
Christianity it is a lesson practically all of us have yet to learn.
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https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o2084g/
Wednesday,
May 27, 2026
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Lord,
guide the course of world events
and give Your Church the joy and peace of serving You in freedom.
You live and reign with the Father and the Holy
Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 10: 32-45
The disciples were
on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them. They were
amazed, and those who followed were afraid. Taking the Twelve aside again, he
began to tell them what was going to happen to him. "Behold, we are going
up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests
and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the
Gentiles who will mock him, spit upon him, scourge him, and put him to death,
but after three days he will rise." Then James and John, the sons of
Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us
whatever we ask of you." He replied, "What do you wish me to do for
you?" They answered him, "Grant that in your glory we may sit one at
your right and the other at your left." Jesus said to them, "You do
not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I drink or be
baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" They said to him,
"We can." Jesus said to them, "The chalice that I drink, you
will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be
baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for
those for whom it has been prepared." When the ten heard this, they became
indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, "You
know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over
them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall
not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your
servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the
Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a
ransom for many."
Reflection
Today’s Gospel narrates the
third announcement of the Passion and, once again, like in the previous times,
it shows us the incoherence of the disciples (cfr. Mk 8: 31-33 and Mk 9:
30-37). Jesus insists on service and on the gift of one’s own life, and they
continue to discuss about the first places in the Kingdom, with one at the
right and the other on the left of the throne. Therefore, everything indicates
that the disciples continue to be blind. This is a sign that the predominant
ideology of the time had profoundly penetrated their mentality. Despite having
lived several years with Jesus, they had not changed their way of seeing
things. They saw Jesus now, as they had seen Him at the beginning, and they
wanted to be rewarded for following Jesus.
•
Mark 10: 32-34: The third announcement of the Passion. They were on the way to
Jerusalem. Jesus walked in front of them. He was in a hurry. He knew that they
would kill Him. The prophet Isaiah had announced it (Is 50: 4-6; 53: 1-10). His
death was not the result of a blind destiny or of a pre-established plan, but
the consequence of His commitment to the mission which He assumed and received
from the Father together with the excluded of His time. This is why Jesus warns
His disciples concerning the torture and death which He will suffer in
Jerusalem. The disciple has to follow the Master, even if it is a matter of
suffering with Him. The
disciples were terrified, and those who were behind were afraid. They
did not understand what was happening. Suffering was not in agreement with the
idea that they had of the Messiah.
•
Mark 10: 35-37: The petition for the first place. The disciples not only do
not understand, but they continue with their own personal ambitions. James and
John ask for a place in the glory of the Kingdom, one at the right and the
other on the left of Jesus. They want to even be before Peter! They do not
understand Jesus. They are only concerned about their own personal interests.
This shows clearly the tensions and the little understanding existing in the
communities at the time of Mark. These even exist today in our communities. In
the Gospel of Matthew, it is the mother of James and John who addressed this
request for her sons (Mt 20: 20). Probably, because of the difficult situation
of poverty and growing lack of work at that time, the mother intercedes for her
sons and tries to guarantee an employment for them in the coming of the Kingdom
of which Jesus spoke about so much.
•
Mark 10: 38-40: The response of Jesus. Jesus reacts firmly:
“You do not know what you are asking!” And
He asks if they are able to drink the cup that He, Jesus, will drink and if
they are ready to receive the baptism which He will receive. It is the cup of
suffering, the baptism of blood! Jesus wants to know if they, instead of a
place of honor, accept to give up their life to the point of death. Both
answer: “We can!” It
seems to be a spontaneous answer, not having thought about it, because a few
days later, they abandoned Jesus and left Him alone at the hour of suffering
(Mk 14: 50). They do not have a critical conscience. They do not perceive their
personal reality. Regarding the place of honor in the Kingdom at the side of
Jesus, this is granted by the Father. What He, Jesus, can offer, is the chalice
and the baptism, suffering and the cross.
•
Mark 10: 41-44: “Among you this is not to happen”. At the end of His
instruction about the Cross, Jesus once again speaks about the exercise of
power (Mk 9: 33-35). At that time, those who held power in the Roman Empire did
not bother about the people. They acted only according to their own interests
(Mk 6: 17-29). The Roman Empire controlled the world and maintained it
submitted by the force of arms and, thus, through the tributes, the taxes,
duties, succeeded in concentrating the wealth of the people in the hands of a
few in Rome. The society was characterized by the repressive and abusive
exercise of power. Jesus had another proposal. He said: “Among you this is not to happen! With you it is not like
that; but anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and
anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all”. He
teaches against privileges and against rivalry. He overturns the system and
insists on service, as a remedy against personal ambition. The community has to
present an alternative for human living together.
•
Mark 10: 45:
The summary of the life of Jesus: Jesus defines His mission and His
life: “For the Son of man
Himself came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom
for many.” Jesus is the Messiah Servant, announced
by the Prophet Isaiah
(cfr. Is 42: 1-9; 49: 1-6; 50: 4-9; 52: 13-53: 12). He learned from His mother
who said to the Angel: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord!” (Lk 1: 38). A totally
new proposal for the society of that time. In this phrase in which He defines
His life, three more ancient titles appear, used by the first Christians to
express and to communicate to others what the following meant for them: Son of
Man, Servant of Yahweh, He who redeems the excluded (the one who liberates, who
saves). To humanize life, to serve the brothers and sisters, to welcome the
excluded.
Personal Questions
•
James and John ask for the first places in the
Kingdom. This thought is a prideful assumption that they deserve it. Do I ask
for a first place when I pray? Do I just assume it is mine? How does this manner
of thinking reconcile with saying “I am an unprofitable servant”?
•
The one who wants to be first in the Kingdom
must be “a slave of all.” The Church Fathers taught that Pride is the root sin.
A slave has no pride, only humility and obedience. Where do I exert my own
will, among others and among my community? How would my relationships be
different if I were more humble?
•
To be “a slave of all.” To do this today while
maintaining our leadership responsibilities requires re-framing those
relationships. How do I lead, manage, or instruct others as a slave of others?
Concluding Prayer
Yahweh has made known His
saving power, revealed His saving justice for the nations to see, mindful of
His faithful love and His constancy to the House of Israel. (Ps 98: 2-3)
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