James and John in today’s gospel acted…weird. They felt that they should sit at the right hand and left hand of the Lord when Jesus came into His Glory. They wanted to be clear that they were much better than the others.  Jesus told them that they were clueless. They didn’t understand where greatness came from. There are many people in all walks of life who strut around as legends in their own minds. They may be professionals who look down on others, or they may be people who hold a position of respect in their families, like parents or grandparents, but do so in an arrogant way, as tyrants rather than as sources of family love.  Perhaps we all do this at times. We don’t understand from where greatness comes. Jesus understood how to be great, though. He told James and John, and He tells us, that greatness comes through service.  On the night of the Last Supper, before Jesus gave us His Body and Blood, He washed the feet of His disciples, and then gave them and us this mandate: what you have seen me do, you also must do.  That was the path to greatness. Think about St. Teresa of Calcutta. She died in 1997, so most of us have been blessed to have been witnesses to some of  her life.  Everyone would admit that she was a great lady.  But how did she become great?  She became great by emptying herself to serve the poorest of the poor, first in Calcutta and then throughout the world.  Think about people you know that you can say with confidence that he or she is a great person. My guess is that person is someone who continually reaches out to other people.  Someone is sick, he or she is there.  Someone is having a bad day, he or she is there.  Someone needs help with a difficult job, he or she doesn’t even need to be asked.  You see, truly great people have learned how to be great from He who is the One True Goat, Jesus Christ, the Greatest of All Time. All of us have different gifts. We have a responsibility to develop our gifts in service to the Lord. What can I do best?  What do you do best?  Some people are capable of caring for the incarcerated with mercy, compassion, and justice.  Others have a great deal of empathy for the sick.  Still others have a heart for the poor.  Some are capable of teaching. Others are great parents not just to their own children but to those orphaned by the circumstances of their lives.  We all have many talents. Our talents are given to us to serve others.  We are called to develop these talents.  We are called to greatness. The Lord understands our failures, our limitations, our fears, the times that we lack confidence in ourselves to do His work. He sees this, but He also sees so much more. He sees our talent. He sees our love. He sees our determination to seek Him out in others and serve His Presence. Christ has called us to be his disciples.  We are Christians. We did not take Christianity on ourselves. We were given this Grace freely by the Lord. We are good enough. He makes us good enough. It is not the size of a person’s entourage that demonstrates that he or she is great.  It is not the position of authority that a person holds that demonstrates his or her greatness.  True greatness come from Jesus Christ. He calls us to be people of service • AE

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Fr. Agustin’s Schedule for Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday, October 17, 2021.

12.30 p.m.  English Mass @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

3.00 p.m. Misa en Español @ St. Dominic Catholic Church

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XXIX Domingo del Tiempo Ordinario (Ciclo B)

Lo más importante en la vida no es tener éxito y superar a los demás. Lo verdaderamente decisivo es saber crecer como ser humano. Sin embargo, con frecuencia, nos equivocamos desde el punto de partida. Creemos que para afirmar nuestra propia vida y asegurar nuestra pequeña felicidad y libertad, debemos necesariamente dominar a los demás e insatisfechos por no tener siempre todo lo que queremos, temerosos de perder felicidad, queremos asegurarnos frente a todo y frente a todos, tratando de dominar la situación desde una posición de superioridad y de poder sobre los demás. Y así es como tratamos de manipular de mil maneras a quienes son más débiles que nosotros, esforzándonos por mantenerlos al servicio de nuestras expectativas e intereses. Basta con echar un vistazo a las relaciones que hay entre jefes y subordinados, entre poderosos y económicamente débiles, entre profesores y alumnos, esposos y esposas. Se diría que no acertamos a ser algo, si no es manipulando, dominando y oprimiendo a los demás. Una pura neurosis. Este deseo de ser grandes dominando a los demás, no proviene de la fuerza que uno posee, sino precisamente de la debilidad y el vacío personal. Es un intento equivocado de conseguir por la fuerza lo que uno no sabe vivir desde la propia libertad y capacidad de amar. Lo importante es darnos cuenta de que existen otros caminos para encauzar nuestra vida y ser auténticamente grandes. El Señor, en el evangelio de hoy, nos dice que quien quiera ser grande tiene que renunciar a su deseo de poder sobre los demás y aprender sencillamente a servir desde una postura de amor fraterno. Los que viven desde la generosidad, el servicio y la solidaridad son personas con una autoridad moral que arrastra. No necesitan amenazar, manipular, sobornar ni adular. Son hombres y mujeres que atraen por su nobleza de vida. En su existencia resplandece la grandeza del Señor que no vino a ser servido, sino a servir, y dar su vida en rescate por todos[1]. La vida de esos cristianos -alejados del ruido de las redes sociales casi siempre- es grande precisamente porque saben darla sin guardarse nada para sí. Es pues el evangelio de este domingo un llamado a la forma en que debemos asumir nuestro servicio apostólico; en nuestra Iglesia, los puestos no deben de existir como alimento de nuestro ego, sino como compromiso para trabajar por los demás • AE

[1] Cfr Marcos 10, 4

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