"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference".
These are the final words of the poem called The Road Less Traveled by Robert Frost. The poem points out that taking the road less traveled, despite difficulties and challenges, results in a journey of great beauty and intense satisfaction. It is the path that makes all the difference.
As people of faith, that road less traveled is the road that Jesus asks us to follow, the road that truly makes all the difference.
In today's Gospel from St. Mark it appears that two of the Apostles are taking off on the wrong road. Indeed, these brothers, James and John, sometimes referred to as Sons of Thunder, demand some honor and prestige for themselves. In your glory Lord, let us sit at your right and at your left. What are these brothers asking for? Do they even know what must happen for Jesus to come into His glory? For the third time now Jesus has told them that His glory comes with arrest, torture, extreme suffering and death. Unwilling or unable to understand this, the brothers, along with all the other Apostles still believe that Jesus will become a war-like conquering hero defeating the Roman soldiers and all his enemies with military precision. Indeed, they are on the wrong road.
Jesus gets them back on the right track however and explains to them that they must drink from the same cup that He will drink and be baptized with the same Baptism that he will be baptized. Of course that Baptism is His pending death. And to make sure they are on the right road, Jesus tells them that to be great, become a servant; to be great serve your brother and sister. Jesus reminds us that even He did not come to be served but to serve.
If you and I want to be great in the kingdom, if we want to stay on the right road to eternal happiness, we must be servants. To serve, like Jesus serves, we must be willing to do the will of the Father, we must be willing to follow Jesus' lead on the road to salvation and we must be willing to be of service to our fellow man. Can we drink this cup? Can we follow the right road, the road less traveled? Remember, it is the path that makes all the difference.
Today also marks World Mission Sunday. This too is one of those roads less traveled. Other than dropping a few bucks into the basket, precious few pay little attention to missions. We may remember from our youth the call from the pulpit to support missionaries in far away places like Africa and Asia. We thought of missionaries as those dedicated clergy and religious who traveled somewhere over there. Well, our scope was wrong. First, who is a missionary? The answer: we are! Yes, we are! Archbishop Aymond has reminded us more than once that if you are baptized, you are a missionary. Each of us is called to live out our Baptism in service to others. Our Baptism does not entitle us to ask Jesus to let us sit at his right or left, rather, it entitles us, it compels us to serve. Maybe you and I are not called to travel the world on a mission trip. We can be missionaries right here, at home, and among our neighbors, brothers and sisters. All missionaries deserve and need our prayers and the mission activity of the Church deserves our careful consideration of the donation we are about to make in today's second collection.
Among the many ways we can be of service to the Church and our God, to make sure we are on the right road, that road less traveled, we can join and participate in a parish ministry, we can support our parish RCIA program, we can help with our parish school of religion, we can visit the sick or the lonely, we can be a friend and support to a neighbor in need, we can reconcile or visit with a loved one we have not been with in far too long? And we can pray, always pray to be a servant, to embrace our status as a missionary and support those whose everyday existence is to bring Christ to others so they too can get on that road less traveled.
Can we drink the cup that Jesus will drink? Can we be baptized as Jesus was baptized, can we stay on the right path; that road less traveled? Rest assured, our yes will make the difference!
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