Working for the Word
Focusing the Gospel
Key words and phrases: You are the Christ, must suffer greatly ... be rejected ... be killed ... rise after three days, take up [the] cross, follow me
To the point: How the disciples continue to misunderstand the deepest truth about what the “Son of Man” is to undergo! While Jesus is speaking of his impending suffering, death, and rising, the disciples are quibbling over “who [is] the greatest” among them. They are brought to silence twice by Jesus because they still cannot accept the true meaning of who Jesus is and his mission. By embracing a child, Jesus reveals, again and concretely, who he is: the One least among us who has come to serve.
Connecting the Gospel …
… to the First Reading: The “just one” who is faithful will suffer at the hands of the wicked. Nonetheless, God will "take care of" the “just one.” God did not save Jesus from suffering and death at the hands of those who rejected his teaching, but God did raise Jesus to new life. God does “take care of” those who are faithful.
… to experience: Spouses spend all their married lives coming to know one another and building a shared identity. Coming to know, understand, and accept the identity of Jesus also takes a lifetime of learning and commitment. But it grants an eternity of fullness of life.