Has our “Americanized Christian mindset” skewed the message of Christ?

Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Mark two of Jesus friends ask him a question….."Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left”…..These two guys, James and John did not get it!…..They were looking for power and glory in the here and now….Jesus was the suffering servant and they did not understand so Jesus had to set them straight!……He addressed their request…”You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”…….In order for us to walk the “narrow road”, which Jesus laid out for us we too must live a sacrificial life….Now don’t take my words for it…Jesus tells us very clearly today in the gospel…..”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”…Do we somehow “think” that we are excused from this path?…..If we do, we are not thinking as God does…The path to heaven is a path that renounces “self” each and everyday…In that process, we are filled by the Holy Spirit…Because even God can not “fill us up” when we are full of our self…….Do you disagree?….. Has our “Americanized Christian mindset” skewed the message of Christ?

“Because of his affliction he shall see the light in fullness of days; through his suffering, my servant shall justify many, and their guilt he shall bear.”

Love is possibly the most misused word in the English language…Do we really know what love is?…..Love gives completely…Love never takes….Love holds nothing back…For love to be real it must cost us….Is this the definition of love that you think about when the word is “thrown around”?…More importantly, is this the witness of love you see in the world today?….Because if you do witness such an example of love - It will deeply impact you…Many people knew Mother Teresa from all the media coverage she received…But before she became famous…She was just another nun serving the poor….I have seen and served at the first home she established in Kolkata. The home itself is located in the red-light district of Kolkata and in it the sisters pick up men and women from the railway station and streets who are half-dead and give them assistance. Some get better and move on and many die…I bring this up because before Mother Teresa became famous she worked in that home for 17 long years day and night…The nuns who live there to this day sleep on the roof of the home. There are open air apartments on the roof and that is where Mother Teresa called home for 17 years…..Living in a brutal city…..Living in a red light district….For 17 long years day and night!…..What should the example of Mother Teresa teach us?…Before you address my question, I will tell you what it taught me……..Before we can lead, we must learn to serve….And in order to serve, we must renounce our very self…..Do you disagree?……. Has our “Americanized Christian mindset” skewed the message of Christ?

Our soul waits for the LORD who is our help and our shield. May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.

Getting back to our gospel today from St Mark…James and John wanted to have power and authority here on earth and asked Jesus for it…Jesus tells them flat out…”You do not know what you are asking?”…….”The son of man came to serve and not to be served”….This is what Jesus did and this is what we are also called to do….Period - Point Blank!….This is the "narrow road" to heaven……Do you disagree?……. Has our “Americanized Christian mindset” skewed the message of Christ?