“But the souls of the just are in God’s hands, and no torment, in death itself, has power to reach them. Dead? Fools think so; think their end loss, their leaving us, annihilation; but all is well with them. The world sees nothing but the pains they endure; they themselves have eyes only for what is immortal; so light their suffering, so great the gain they win! God, all the while, did but test them, and testing them found them worthy of Him. His gold, tried in the crucible, His burnt-sacrifice, graciously accepted, they do but wait for the time of their deliverance; then they will shine out, these just souls, unconquerable as the sparks that break out, now here, now there, among the stubble. Theirs to sit in judgement on nations, to subdue whole peoples, under a Lord Whose reign shall last for ever.”
Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, 3: 1-8 [link]
This is part of one of the most memorable parts of the Old Testament for me, and one we almost routinely have for our funeral services; it could be subtitled the Reward of the Righteous. It tells us that those men and women who have loved God and have struggled hard to do His will, and have suffered grievously in this life, are yet at peace. And then it says, they will judge the nations of the earth and subdue them, under the reign of the universal King, Who is God.
And so, we may ask, of those of us who (as S. Paul says) win the race and receive the crown at the end of these lives on earth, how would we rule? Would we sit upon thrones, wear crowns, hold an orb and a sceptre, have a government? Surely, the worldly man or woman imagines this, for it is our picture here in the west of kings and queens, reigning in splendour. And, as our gospel story demonstrates, there was something similar in the minds of the Apostles of Christ. Remember that Christ had told these Twelve men that they would sit on Twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. But then, in that memorable episode at Caesarea Philippi, He had singled out one of them for primacy, saying to S. Peter that he would receive the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Surely it is very human for these Twelve men to vie with one another for favour with Christ. We hear sometimes of how they tried to decide among themselves who was the greatest among them – whence Christ had said that the leaders of the Church would not domineer over the community, rather that they should be like little children. And now, two of the three principal Apostles have a special request.
“Thereupon James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him and said, ‘Master, we would have thee grant the request we are to make.’ And He asked them, ‘What would you have me do for you?’ They said to Him, ‘Grant that one of us may take his place on Thy right and the other on Thy left, when Thou art glorified.’ But Jesus said to them, ‘You do not know what it is you ask. Have you strength to drink of the cup I am to drink of, to be baptised with the baptism I am to be baptised with?’ They said to Him, ‘We have.’ And Jesus told them, ‘You shall indeed drink of the cup I am to drink of, and be baptised with the baptism I am to be baptised with; but a place on My right hand or My left is not mine to give you; it is for those for whom it has been destined. The ten others grew indignant with James and John when they heard of it. But Jesus called them to Him, and said to them, ‘You know that, among the Gentiles, those who claim to bear rule lord it over them, and those who are great among them make the most of the power they have. With you it must be otherwise; whoever has a mind to be great among you, must be your servant, and whoever has a mind to be first among you, must be your slave. So it is that the Son of Man did not come to have service done Him; He came to serve others, and to give His life as a ransom for the lives of many.”
Gospel of S. Mark, 10: 35-45 [link]
James and John we know from tradition were related to Christ on His mother’s side. S. Mark tells us that they came directly to Christ with their request, S. Matthew and S. Luke tell us that they got their mother Salome to ask Him on their behalf. I call her the Holy Aunty. But the response is the same. They do not know what they are asking for. What is it for the Christian soul to reign, or to judge? We jump over to the first reading, and we have a tiny portion of this excellent chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah, which is all about the Passion of our Lord.
“Ay, the Lord’s will it was, overwhelmed he should be with trouble. His life laid down for guilt’s atoning, he shall yet be rewarded; father of a long posterity, instrument of the divine purpose; for all his heart’s anguish, rewarded in full. The Just One, My servant; many shall he claim for his own, win their acquittal, on his shoulders bearing their guilt.”
Prophecy of Isaias, 53: 10-11 [link]
This is the Passion of Christ the King. How does He acquire dominion over all things? Isaiah says that He was crushed/overwhelmed with suffering, that He offered His life humbly to join mankind to God, and Isaiah suggests that a long life still awaits Him beyond the crucible of suffering. It is because of His suffering for the life of others that He was glorified by God the Father. So He says to James and John, You don’t know what you are asking for by requesting thrones at my side. And they also don’t know what they mean when they say in reply, Yes, we can drink of Your cup and be baptised with you baptism.
A baptism of blood… S. James at least would drink it quickly; he was the first of the Apostles to be martyred, as we know from the book of the Acts of the Apostles. And S. John, the only one of the Apostles to not be martyred, nevertheless suffered much persecution especially in old age from Roman governors and heretical opponents.
And we are called to suffer also, and to suffer for others. If we recall the story of Fátima, the Lady of the Rosary asked those little shepherd children to suffer for the sake of sinners, and gave them that little prayer we have in the Rosary: O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, and save from the fires of hell especially those most in need. How old were the children? Seven to ten years old? And they accepted the task of expiatory sacrifice from our Lady. Christ will have said to these small children, The cup that I have drunk you shall drink, and even little Jacinta accepted. Are we up to doing something similar? Can we make small sacrifices and large ones, offer up our sufferings for the sake of poor sinners, to rescue their souls from the fires of hell. Yes, it’s difficult to make sacrifices – even small ones. But as S. Paul tells us in the second reading, we are not without a high-priest Who understands well the weakness of our humanity, has been tempted as we are and yet without sin. He will help us drink the bitter chalice of suffering, and drink it with joy in our hearts.
“Let us hold fast, then, by the faith we profess. We can claim a great High-priest, and One Who has passed right up through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. It is not as if our High-priest was incapable of feeling for us in our humiliations; He has been through every trial, fashioned as we are, only sinless. Let us come boldly, then, before the throne of grace, to meet with mercy, and win that grace which will help us in our needs.”
Letter to the Hebrews, 4: 14-16 [link]
Catholic Louth and Mablethorpe 