29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Fr. Simham)

ETERNAL OPTIMISTS

The gospel we read today comes immediately after the third prediction of Jesus about his suffering and death in Mark‘s gospel. It is not the first time; it is the third time that Jesus was telling them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; they will hand him over to the gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again. (Mark 10:33-34). And what is the reaction of the disciples to this? To this prediction of gloom and doom? The gospel today tells us that. Two of the top three, James and John walk up to Jesus and say, “Master, we want you to do us a favour.” What is that favour? “Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in glory.” Completely disconnected from what Jesus was saying. Now, listen carefully. When Jesus was talking about his rejection, suffering and death, these two were concerned about power and position; what do you call such kind of people? Stupid, morons, selfish and proud, people who cannot understand the seriousness of the situation? People who look at the things from their coloured glass; from their own perspective? Or, People who bury their heads in the sand. You know what an ostrich when it senses danger? It buries its head in the sand thinking it is hiding from the problem.

Whatever you may like to call them, but I would call them as ‘eternal optimists.’ What I see in them is a kind of pure optimism. What is optimism? Optimism is the ability to see the positive side of things rather than the negative side. Optimistic thinkers are usually positive people because they approach life with the expectation that a happy outcome is both desirable and possible. And true optimism doesn’t mean being unaware of problems; it means actively looking for the positive factors in a situation.

This is what we can in these two disciples. When Jesus said all what he said about his passion, a pessimist would have winged and mourned about the fate that was to befall their master and their own bad luck in following him. But an optimist will see hope beyond the suffering. That is what I see in these disciples. It is not that they were not aware of the problems lying ahead. It is not that they were not aware of the cross that was lying ahead, but they were those who see a silver lining in the clouds. They were looking at the glory beyond the cross. They were ready to drink the cup which Jesus had to drink and to receive the baptism which Jesus was going to receive. They were ready for all that. And their concern was something beyond all this. After all these things what will happen? They were concerned about it. They were those optimists who believe that such a good person like Jesus will not end up death and Hades. And they were optimistic that their following him will not be a waste. In fact Jesus himself promised them sometime earlier, that they will sit on twelve thrones and judge twelve tribes of Israel as a reward for following him. Whether what they desire (I.e. their ambition for two important seats) is good or not; their ability to see beyond all these apparent suffering to the glory and dream about it. That is good. I call it as sheer optimism. In the world great achievers are those who were optimists.

In fact God the father is an optimist; eternal optimist, which is why he still loves the world; not fed up with it. Jesus himself was an optimist. He always looked at the positive side of things and persons. For everyone, Mary Magdalene, Zacchaeus were sinners but for Jesus, they were people who were capable of changing their lives. At the death of Lazarus, everyone saw gloom and doom, but Jesus saw life restored. Even in the garden of Gethsemane when he was agonising, he was optimistic that his father will not abandon him. Jesus the eternal optimist will be happy to see the optimists in his followers.

Greed for power and position, whether it is in this world or nether world is surely not a value of the kingdom of God and Jesus clearly explains and corrects that in the gospel. But optimism and positive thinking is a gospel value. Instead of seeing half cup empty, see the half cup that is full. Instead of thinking about what you don’t have and mourn about it, look at what you have and rejoice in it.

Lately our everyday reality seems to leave little room for optimism. People around the world are suffering from very real natural and personal crises. Our TV’s and newspapers are packed with sadness and fear. In times like these it is very important to hold tight to a powerful life success tool – optimism. God the eternal optimist wants you and me to be optimistic. Amen

Fr. Showreelu Simham