By Fr. Roy Cimagala *
WE have to be most careful with our intentions because they
play a crucial role in our moral life. Our intentions can determine
the state of our life in relation to God and to the others. Together
with the matter or object, and the circumstances surrounding our acts,
our intention can referee whether our human acts are good or bad.
That gospel episode about the brothers James and John
wanting to be seated at the sides of God in his kingdom (cfr. Mk
10,35-45) reminds us that while it’s good to desire what is best for
us, we have to make sure that we are ready to do what it takes to
achieve such intention, desire or ambition.
Again, while it’s nice to hear from the brothers that they
were willing to “drink the cup” that Christ would drink, and to be
“baptized with the baptism” with which Christ would be baptized, that
is to say, that they were willing to suffer with Christ with their
bold response of “We can,” Christ somehow corrected or purified their
intention by telling them they should rather have the intention of
serving and not to be served. That way, they can share in the glory of
Christ himself.
Reinforcing this point, Christ told them clearly that
“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.”
I believe that these words are most relevant to us today,
since we need to be reminded of a basic attitude we ought to have if
we want to be truly human and Christian, with love supposedly the
driving principle of our life.
To serve is the language and the action of love. It
authenticates any affirmation of love we do, converting it from
intention to tangible reality.
This is the attitude meant for us, with Christ himself as
the exemplar. Imagine, Christ served us by dying on the cross. Before
that, he shocked his apostles when he insisted that he be allowed to
wash their feet. That was to give example to them, and us, so that
what he did we would also do.
The angels too, superior to us in nature, are made to serve
us, following a divine law articulated by Christ himself when he said:
“Let him who is greatest among you become as the youngest, and him who
is the chief as the servant.” (Lk 22,26)
We need to be more keenly aware of this law. This is truly
what is good for us, providing us with the basic source of strength
and consistency we need as we grapple with life’s endless challenges.
Before we worry about the big and destructive enemies of our
soul, we have to realize that our most insidious foe is right within
us, when this attitude of serving others is not firmly established in
our mind and heart.
This eagerness to serve really has to be worked out, because
with our fallen and wounded nature, every pore of our being tends to
go against the law of love expressed in service that God meant for us.
We need to come out with some strategies for this attitude of wanting
to serve to be incorporated into our lifestyle.
