They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house,
he began to ask them,
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
But they remained silent.
They had been discussing among themselves on the way
who was the greatest.
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them,
“If anyone wishes to be first,
he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” (Mk 9:30-37)
Christian ambition is in us all. No wonder the Lord has to sit himself down and call us around and give us a teaching. Perhaps this is where the most treasured title of the popes comes from: “Servant of the Servants of God.” The caption on today's picture says: "Whoever would be first, must be the last of all and the servant of all" (Mk 9:35).
