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So counter-cultural were Jesus’s values, that even those who lived with him continuously for three years could not fully grasp them.

So his spirited apostles, James and John, whom he called “The Sons of Thunder,” get their mum to ask him for the places of the greatest prestige and visibility, on his right and left, in his court, once he came into his Kingdom.

And the other ten are indignant! Jesus asks them to cluster around him and explains (once again!) the ground rules of the topsy-turvy kingdom he is inaugurating. They are not to lord it over others or boss them around. The greatest, the one who is first, will be the one who is a blessing to others. And so, he offers them, not the second or third place, but the first place in the lives of those they encounter. Be the one who sees others, listens intently, slows down for others, cares for them, helps them.

Such a person is always one of the greatest people in the lives of those blessed to encounter them. They don’t need to sharp-elbow themselves to sit with the greatest. To those whom they have blessed, they are the greatest, in the way Christ himself modelled. They have used their one, two or five talents to bless others, to find the place where their deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.

My memoir: Rosaries, Reading, Secrets: A Catholic Childhood in India UK USA

Blog: anitamathias.com

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My book of essays: Wandering Between Two Worlds (US) and UK