Reflection on the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Have you ever said a bold yes to a request or a directive and then discovered it demanded more than you anticipated?  You are asked to move from teaching third grade to teach high school freshman English and history and also sponsor the debate club. First, you panic, then ask yourself how to proceed. Suppose you are asked to attend to a complicated situation that has needed attention for some time. Panic, then figure it out. 

Jesus asks, “Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the same baptism?”  Jesus had said often that he was headed for Jerusalem where he would suffer and die. But the two disciples wanted recognition and a position of prominence. Mark wants us to recognize that Jesus’ first disciples had to grow into their commitment as we grow into our commitment of Baptism.

“We can,” James and John brashly pledge when Jesus asks if they can drink the cup he will drink. In our day and age many people said “we can” as they joined in the civil rights movement, in the continued struggle to rid the world of nuclear weapons, in fighting for voting rights, in walking the halls of Congress or the United Nations, visiting  jails, standing with victims of domestic violence, standing with individuals struggling with addictions and in many other struggles.   

Our challenge is to continue to bear witness, and to be present wherever there is a need. We continue to stand with anyone seeking justice and equality.

Can you drink the Cup?

Yes, We can. Si, Se Puede!

We can stand with George Floyd or Breanna Taylor and proclaim Black Lives Matter.

We can stand with people who are hungry or in need of shelter.

We can stand at the border with immigrants seeking freedom from oppression.

We can stand with women seeking reproductive health care.

We can stand with those seeking the right to vote (We sent 1,000 letters encouraging individuals to vote.).

We can stand for peace among all nations as we fight against nuclear weapons, against easy access to guns.

Are these the ways we hope to drink of the Cup?

We can fall into the same trap as the two disciples who suffer from “cognitive dissonance” because Jesus’ words don’t match their sense of reality. We think we know what it means to follow Jesus, but we can’t believe he’d really ask us to do something dangerous – or even uncomfortable.   

Can we drink of the Cup? I have always seen St. Ignatius prayer “Suscipe” as an aspiration, a call to “drink the cup.”  When I was younger I could pray it fervently. As the years have progressed this prayer has taken on a new meaning for me and challenges me to  share in the cup offered to me.

“Take, Lord, receive

All my liberty, my memory

My understanding, and my entire will

All that I have and possess

You have given all to me

To, You, Lord, I return it 

All is Yours

Dispose of it wholly according to your will

Give me your love and your grace

For this is enough for me.”

Can I drink of the Cup?

 I can only try. Si, Se Puede!