Our Gospel today picks up right after Jesus explains how He is to suffer, how He is to endure tremendous torture and pain. That is why it is so interesting that just as Jesus finishes His prediction of His crucifixion that St. James and St. John come up to ask Him if they could sit one at His right and one at His left. Almost, disregarding the fact that Jesus just finished explaining what that cup was from which they said they could drink.
And, even though history shows that they did, indeed, drink from that same cup, since St. James was, ultimately, beheaded and St. John endured great suffering and persecution, it seems they may not have completely understood, at the time, what it was they were agreeing to, because the cup is much more than a mere cup, it is, at heart a source of blessing and a source of suffering.
In fact, the cup points to the greater reality of the Cross itself, because a cup would be used in sacrifice in order to catch the blood, in this case, Jesus is referring to His own blood, the same blood that has covered a multitude of sins. The image is simply another way of telling us that we must be willing, able and ready to take up our Cross and to follow Him. To be ready to embrace, in love, the same destiny as Him, because the question that Jesus posed to St James and St. John, He also poses to us, “Can you drink the cup that I drink?”
And, it is a question that can truly haunt us, and of which we are daily reminded of when we ourselves receive that same cup, the chalice, here at Mass, because we are partaking in the same mystery that Jesus speaks of, we are drinking from the same cup from which He drank.
That is why we don’t say: “the wine of Christ,” but the “blood of Christ,” because if it were mere wine it would mean nothing, but because it is blood it means everything, it means that, indeed, there is sacrifice, it means that the very essence of the life of Jesus courses through our same veins, that the same blood He shed has become not just what saves us but an intimate and integral part of our own lives as well.
That is why every time I elevate the chalice I cannot help but say: “Blood of Christ, flow through me, inebriate me, course through my veins and fill my heart to overflowing, which is Your Precious Blood.”
Because, to drink the cup means we are united, brought into true communion with that mystery and our “Amen” is the same consent that St. James and St. John gave. That is why our response is just as important as the question itself, because how we answer determines our willingness, our strength and our perseverance.
In fact, it was St. Elizabeth Ann Seton who put it best, with this powerful, but sober reminder, she said: “You think you make sacrifices. Look at the sacrifice of Calvary and compare yours with it.”
That is why Jesus’ question in our Gospel today is a haunting question, a difficult question, yet, one we should never stop asking ourselves, one we should never take for granted, because it is Jesus’ own question for all of us: “Can you drink the cup that I drink?"
And, even though history shows that they did, indeed, drink from that same cup, since St. James was, ultimately, beheaded and St. John endured great suffering and persecution, it seems they may not have completely understood, at the time, what it was they were agreeing to, because the cup is much more than a mere cup, it is, at heart a source of blessing and a source of suffering.
In fact, the cup points to the greater reality of the Cross itself, because a cup would be used in sacrifice in order to catch the blood, in this case, Jesus is referring to His own blood, the same blood that has covered a multitude of sins. The image is simply another way of telling us that we must be willing, able and ready to take up our Cross and to follow Him. To be ready to embrace, in love, the same destiny as Him, because the question that Jesus posed to St James and St. John, He also poses to us, “Can you drink the cup that I drink?”
And, it is a question that can truly haunt us, and of which we are daily reminded of when we ourselves receive that same cup, the chalice, here at Mass, because we are partaking in the same mystery that Jesus speaks of, we are drinking from the same cup from which He drank.
That is why we don’t say: “the wine of Christ,” but the “blood of Christ,” because if it were mere wine it would mean nothing, but because it is blood it means everything, it means that, indeed, there is sacrifice, it means that the very essence of the life of Jesus courses through our same veins, that the same blood He shed has become not just what saves us but an intimate and integral part of our own lives as well.
That is why every time I elevate the chalice I cannot help but say: “Blood of Christ, flow through me, inebriate me, course through my veins and fill my heart to overflowing, which is Your Precious Blood.”
Because, to drink the cup means we are united, brought into true communion with that mystery and our “Amen” is the same consent that St. James and St. John gave. That is why our response is just as important as the question itself, because how we answer determines our willingness, our strength and our perseverance.
In fact, it was St. Elizabeth Ann Seton who put it best, with this powerful, but sober reminder, she said: “You think you make sacrifices. Look at the sacrifice of Calvary and compare yours with it.”
That is why Jesus’ question in our Gospel today is a haunting question, a difficult question, yet, one we should never stop asking ourselves, one we should never take for granted, because it is Jesus’ own question for all of us: “Can you drink the cup that I drink?"
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