ST. CHRISTOPHER MAGALLANES AND COMPANIONS (OPT MEMORIAL)

They had been discussing among themselves .. who was the greatest. 

Why were the apostles arguing about who was the greatest among them? After all, these twelve men had been chosen by Jesus to be his closest followers. Wasn’t that a great honor in and of itself?

Yet the potential for argument and division seems to be woven into our fallen human nature. Not even the members of the early Christian communities were immune to it, as we see in today’s first reading. When James asks where such conflicts come from, he answers his own question: “Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?” (4:1).

We often blame our emotions, or “passions,” for things we say or do, things that we later regret. That’s why we tend to view them through a moral lens. We consider some emotions “good” and others “bad”—and we often feel guilty when we experience the “bad” ones.

However, the Catechism teaches us that “in themselves passions are neither good nor evil” (1767). In fact, they are absolutely essential to who we are as human beings. Furthermore, “strong feelings are not decisive” in making us moral or holy people (1768). It’s how we react to them—whether we use our reason and will to govern them—that matters.

When we experience strong emotions that have the potential to lead us into sin, we shouldn’t be surprised or get down on ourselves. Instead, free of shame, we can acknowledge to the Lord how we are feeling and then ask for his help. In his humanity, Jesus knows exactly what we are going through. Not only is he our model for how to govern our emotions, but he gives us the grace to do it.

We don’t know if tempers flared or unkind words were said as the disciples argued. But notice that Jesus didn’t berate them for indulging in such pettiness; instead, he patiently taught them about what it means to be “first” and “last” (Mark 9:35). When we don’t know how to handle our emotions, our first instinct should be to turn to Jesus. We can always count on him to help us. As he did with the apostles, he will patiently show us the way to true greatness.

“Jesus, be my lifeline whenever my emotions threaten to overwhelm me!”

James 4:1-10
Psalm 55:7-11, 23
Mark 9:30-37