Catholic Priest and a Rabbi were chatting one day when the conversation turned to a discussion of job descriptions and promotion.

"What do you have to look forward to in way of a promotion in your job?" asked the Rabbi.  
"Well, I'm next in line for the Monsignor's job." replied the Priest.  
"Yes, and then what?" asked the Rabbi.  
"Well, next I can become Auxiliary -Bishop" said the Priest.  
“Yes, and then?" asked the Rabbi.  
"If I work real hard and do a good job as Auxiliary-Bishop, it's possible for me to become a full Bishop." said the Priest.  
"O.K., then what?" asked the Rabbi.  
The Priest, beginning to get a bit exasperated replied, "With some luck and real hard work, maybe I can become a Cardinal."  
"And then?" asked the Rabbi.  
The Priest is really starting to get mad now and replies, "With lots and lots of luck and some real difficult work and if I'm in the right places at the right times and play my political games just right, maybe, just maybe, I can get elected Pope."  
"Yes, and then what?" asked the Rabbi.  
"Good grief!" shouted the Priest. "What do you expect me to become, GOD?"  
"Well," said the Rabbi, "One of our boys made it!"

The Question “What were you arguing about on the way?”

For many people, being big in the eyes of the world is important. Achieving worldly success is a dream that is in many people’s minds. And it is not wrong to be ambitious. It is not wrong to dream that you can be better than others at the gifts God has given you. We know that free marketing is good for the economy. And free marketing allows competition. Competition helps us to find the best or better products. Competition helps us to elect a better candidate to serve in our government. We see competitions at the United Nations; we see competition among leaders of the world. We see competition between political parties. We see competition among people of different institutions. We see competition between differrent companies. Recently, CBS has hired Katie Couric to replace Dan Rather for their Evening News program. Now the three newscasts, ABC, CBS, and NBC are in a dogfight for ratings supremacy. The headline reports, “Couric and CBS win close race for evening ratings with 7.78 million viewers.

The disciples were discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. When Jesus asked, “What were you arguing about on the way?” they were silent.

Have you ever been reduced to embarrassed silence?
Have you ever felt a sense of shame because you did something wrong and was caught?
It happened to the disciples of Jesus.
Jesus is heading towards Jerusalem and the cross.
He is resolved and committed to his mission.
He is ready to do God’s will, to die for the salvation of the world.

The disciples, however, are walking behind him and they are not thinking the same as Jesus. They are ambitious, but their ambition is not what Jesus has in mind. Jesus’ ambition is to save the world. The means to achieve his ambition is the CROSS. His disciples’ ambition is to become famous and powerful in the world. Their means to achieve it is to take advantage of the situation and be on top of others. Therefore when Jesus asks “What were you arguing about on the way?” they are silent. They were caught in their vain thinking.

Jesus is asking every one of us this same question today, “What are you arguing about on the way?” We are also on our way. We are walking on the way along with Jesus and with one another. We are talking, discussing, debating, arguing about how much we make; how successful we are; how fair or unfair things are; how smart we are; how good or evil the world is; how politically correct we are; how popular we are. We talk about the right things. We talk about the best thing. But we and many people forget about the only important thing. And Jesus is telling us the only important thing to Him, to God, and to the Kingdom. And that important thing is to serve others. Is serving others important to you? How many people have you served?

The Only Christ I Ever Knew

A woman we’ll call Mary had worked for many years in a large downtown business office. Many different things were said about Mary, but there was one thing all of her colleagues agreed on: Mary was a very unlike-able, hateful person. No one ever managed to get close enough to her to know her very well. Mary had a way of quickly turning off anyone who tried to get close to her. No one ever managed to get to know her well. She was a loner, a crab, very disagreeable and when ever a new employee was hired, the warning went out very quickly: “Stay away from Mary!” This situation went on for many years, until a new employee named Sally arrived on the scene. “Sally disregarded all of the warnings about Mary and she made a very special effort to let her know there was someone in the office who really cared about her. Slowly Mary came out of her shell, relaxed and began to communicate and even developed one or two friendships.

Then early one morning, the whole office was shocked to learn that Sally had died suddenly in her sleep. When Mary heard the news, she cried and cried and said over and over again, “SHE WAS THE ONLY CHRIST I EVER KNEW !!!”

This is what Jesus means when he says, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all. . . Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receive me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”

Rev. John Tran Kha
Houston, TX