Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to him, “We can.” Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

Just like James and John, we too should desire to drink the cup of Christ and be baptized by sharing in his sufferings. When we accept the cup God is offering, we accept God’s Will for us and choose to be baptized by the trials and tribulations that come when we choose to be good and faithful servants. It is not always easy to accept the troubles that come from doing good works. It seems counter-intuitive, shouldn’t we be rewarded for doing the right thing? But God does not promise us worldly consolations and He cannot give us the understanding of others and so sometimes we are persecuted for being faithful to God. However, we should not let these sufferings keep us from doing good. Consolations will come, just not always in the manner and time we want them to. So let us be willing to accept whatever comes our way, confident that in the end God will provide us the strength to suffer for His glory and overcome all obstacles to doing His Will.

Are we willing to drink the cup God has prepared for us? Are we willingly to suffer without complaint? Do we trust God enough to love Him no matter what trials come our way?

O Lord, grant us the strength to drink the cup you have prepared for us.

Amen.