How does the world measure greatness?
By power.
By wealth.
By influence.
By success.
By the number of people who serve us.
By the number of people who admire us.
The higher you climb, the more important you become.
That is how the world thinks.
But today Jesus turns the whole idea upside down.
The mother of James and John comes to Jesus with a request.
She wants her sons to have the best places in the Kingdom.
One on His right.
One on His left.
It is an understandable request.
Every parent wants the best for their children.
But she has misunderstood the Kingdom.
She imagines glory.
Jesus is thinking about the Cross.
She imagines honour.
Jesus is speaking about sacrifice.
She imagines power.
Jesus is speaking about service.
Jesus asks James and John one question.
“Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?”
The cup is not a cup of celebration.
It is the cup of suffering.
The cup of obedience.
The cup of the Cross.
Without fully understanding, they answer:
“We are able.”
And Jesus tells them they will indeed drink His cup.
James would become the first of the Apostles to give his life for Christ.
Those words were more costly than they realised.
Then Jesus gathers all the disciples together.
He knows they are arguing.
Competing.
Comparing themselves with one another.
Who will be greatest?
Who will be first?
Who will have the highest place?
It is an argument that has echoed throughout history.
People still ask the same questions.
Who has the better job?
The bigger house?
The greater influence?
The higher status?
The most followers?
The greatest success?
The world has changed.
Human pride has not.
Jesus answers with one sentence.
“It shall not be so among you.”
Those words should challenge every Christian.
The Church is meant to be different.
Not because Christians are naturally better.
But because Christ has shown us another way.
Greatness in His Kingdom is measured differently.
Jesus says:
“Whoever would be great among you must be your servant.”
Imagine how shocking that sounded.
No king spoke like that.
No emperor spoke like that.
No ruler spoke like that.
Power always meant being served.
Jesus says true greatness means serving.
Not because service is beneath us.
Because service is the very life of God.
Then Jesus points to Himself.
“The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
That is the heart of Christianity.
The Lord of heaven kneels to wash feet.
The Creator serves His creatures.
The Judge of the world dies for the guilty.
The King wears a crown of thorns.
If that is what greatness looks like for Christ, then it must be what greatness looks like for His disciples.
St Paul explains how that becomes possible.
He says:
“We have this treasure in jars of clay.”
What a wonderful image.
Clay jars are ordinary.
Fragile.
Easily broken.
That is us.
Weak.
Limited.
Sometimes frightened.
Sometimes sinful.
Sometimes discouraged.
Yet inside these fragile lives God places an extraordinary treasure.
His grace.
His Spirit.
His Gospel.
The power belongs to God, not to us.
That should encourage us.
God does not wait until we are perfect before He can use us.
He worked through Peter despite his denial.
Through Paul despite his past.
Through James despite his misunderstanding.
He works through ordinary people who place themselves in His hands.
St James is a perfect example.
At the beginning of the Gospel he wants glory.
At the end of his life he receives a sword.
He does not become great because he sits beside Christ.
He becomes great because he follows Christ.
Tradition tells us that after Pentecost he preached the Gospel with courage, and though his mission was not long, it was fruitful.
He became the first Apostle to seal his witness with his blood.
James discovered that the road to glory passes through Calvary.
There is no other road.
That is a lesson our world desperately needs.
We are taught to ask:
“What can I get?”
Jesus teaches us to ask:
“Whom can I serve?”
We are taught to build our own success.
Jesus teaches us to lay down our lives.
We are taught to seek recognition.
Jesus teaches us to seek holiness.
One path leads to temporary applause.
The other leads to eternal life.
Every Mass places this choice before us.
We come not simply to admire Christ.
We come to be changed by Him.
On this altar, the One who came not to be served but to serve gives Himself once again.
He gives us His Body.
He pours out His Blood.
Then He sends us into the world to live as He lived.
To serve. To forgive. To sacrifice. To love.
Perhaps that is the question we should take home today.
Who is made happier because I am a Christian?
Who is helped?
Who is encouraged?
Who is loved?
Who comes closer to Christ because they have met me?
That is how greatness is measured in the Kingdom of God.
Not by how many people serve us.
But by how faithfully we serve others for the love of Christ.
St. Mary's, St. John Bosco and St. Edward's 