He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant,

but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Jeremiah 18:18-20

Then, they said, “Come,

Let us plot against Jeremiah, for even without him, there will be priests to interpret the Teachings of the Law; there will always be wisemen to impart counsel and prophets to proclaim the word.

 Come, let us accuse him and strike him down instead of listening to what he says.”  Hear me, O Yahweh! Listen to what my accusers say.  Is evil the reward for good?

Why do they dig a grave for me? Remember how I stood before you to speak well on their behalf so that your anger might subside.

 

Ps 31:5-6, 14, 15-16

Save me, O Lord, in your kindness.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊ 

Matthew 20:17-28

When Jesus was going to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, "See, we are going to Jerusalem. There, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law; and they will condemn him to death.

They will hand him over to the foreigners, who will mock him, scourge him and crucify him. But he will be raised to life on the third day."

Then the mother of James and John came to Jesus with her sons, and she knelt down, to ask a favor. Jesus said to her, "What do you want?" And she answered, "Here, you have my two sons. Grant, that they may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom."

Jesus said to the brothers, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They answered, "We can." Jesus replied, "You will indeed drink my cup; but to sit at my right or at my left is not for me to grant. That will be for those, for whom my Father has prepared it."

The other ten heard all this, and were angry with the two brothers. Then Jesus called them to him and said, "You know, that the rulers of nations behave like tyrants, and the powerful oppress them.

It shall not be so among you: whoever wants to be great in your community, let him minister to the community. And if you want to be the first of all, make yourself the servant of all. Be like the Son of Man, who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life to redeem many."

 

 Gospel Reflection：

(Not) Being Empathic

The Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines empathy as: "the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner."

Some are born with the gift of empathy. Some have to really work hard at practicing empathy. In today's gospel neither the disciples nor the mother of the sons of thunder show empathy towards Jesus.

Here is Jesus achingly confiding in his beloved ones the heart breaking reality of his impending death. But they do not have a word of consolation for him. Worse, some choose that very moment or immediately after, to bring up issues of their preferred seating arrangements in heaven! Mercifully, Jesus was empathy-incarnate. Without taking offence, but setting aside his own pain, he gives them a patient, kind hearing.