The Commemoration of Saint Casimir
Then they said, "Come! Let's devise plans against Jeremiah; for the law won't perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let's strike him with the tongue, and let's not give heed to any of his words." Give heed to me, Lord, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me. Should evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.
Into your hand I commend my spirit. You redeem me, Lord, God of truth. I hate those who regard lying vanities, but I trust in the Lord.
But I trust in you, Lord. I said, "You are my God."
My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me. Make your face to shine on your servant. Save me in your loving kindness.
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up."
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him. He said to her, "What do you want?"
She said to him, "Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom."
But Jesus answered, "You don't know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
They said to him, "We are able."
He said to them, "You will indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give, but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father."
When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.
But Jesus summoned them, and said, "You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant, even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Saint Casimir, the fifteenth-century Polish prince who chose prayer and service over political power, embodied the very paradox we encounter in these readings. He understood that true greatness flows not from position but from surrender.
The contrast couldn't be sharper. Jeremiah faces conspirators plotting against him with their tongues as weapons, while Jesus predicts his own betrayal and death. Yet in both passages, there's this remarkable movement toward trust—Jeremiah commending his spirit to God, Jesus explaining that greatness comes through service. Right in the middle of these sobering realities, the mother of James and John asks for the best seats in the kingdom.
Notice how Jesus doesn't dismiss her request with irritation. Instead, he asks a deeper question: "Do you know what you're asking?" The cup he speaks of isn't just suffering—it's the complete pouring out of self for others. This is the baptism that transforms everything we think we know about power and success.
Here we encounter one of Lent's central invitations: to examine our own desires for recognition, security, and control. Consider how often we position ourselves for advantage, even in small ways—angling for credit at work, seeking validation in conversations, or measuring our worth against others' achievements.
The movement Jesus describes turns this upside down. Greatness emerges not from climbing ladders but from washing feet, not from accumulating influence but from spending ourselves like bread broken for others. This isn't just noble idealism—it's the practical wisdom of the kingdom, lived out in ordinary Wednesday afternoons and difficult family dynamics.
What "cup" might you be avoiding that actually holds your path to authentic life? Where in your daily routine could service replace self-promotion? How does trusting God's timing change your relationship with ambition?