The Memorial of Saint Augustine of Canterbury
Knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things like silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, But with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ, Who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake, Who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.
Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently, Having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever. For, "All flesh is like grass, And all of man's glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls; But the Lord's word endures forever."
This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.
Praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Praise your God, Zion! For he has strengthened the bars of your gates. He has blessed your children within you.
He makes peace in your borders. He fills you with the finest of the wheat. He sends out his commandment to the earth. His word runs very swiftly.
He shows his word to Jacob, His statutes and his ordinances to Israel. He has not done this for just any nation. They don't know his ordinances. Praise the Lord!
They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He again took the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him. "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles. They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again."
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, saying, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask."
He said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?"
They said to him, "Grant to us that we may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left hand, in your glory."
But Jesus said to them, "You don't know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?"
They said to him, "We are able."
Jesus said to them, "You shall indeed drink the cup that I drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; But to sit at my right hand and at my left hand is not mine to give, but for whom it has been prepared."
When the ten heard it, they began to be indignant toward James and John.
Jesus summoned them and said to them, "You know that they who are recognized as rulers over the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant. Whoever of you wants to become first among you shall be bondservant of all. For the Son of Man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Saint Augustine of Canterbury brought Christianity to England in the sixth century, sent by Pope Gregory the Great to evangelize the Anglo-Saxons. His missionary zeal reminds us that faith is always meant to be shared, not hoarded.
The tension in Mark's Gospel feels almost uncomfortable. Jesus has just told his disciples, with stark clarity, exactly what awaits him in Jerusalem—mockery, torture, death. Yet James and John immediately pivot to asking for the best seats in his kingdom. Their timing seems tone-deaf, their priorities completely misaligned.
But perhaps this disconnect reveals something profound about human nature. We hear the hard truths about following Christ, yet we still find ourselves drawn to the perks, the recognition, the visible rewards. Notice how Jesus doesn't shame them for their ambition. Instead, he redirects it entirely. The cup he drinks isn't filled with glory—it's filled with suffering. The baptism he receives isn't a celebration—it's a drowning in love for others.
Peter's letter offers the deeper context. We've been redeemed not with silver or gold—those temporary, corruptible things that James and John seem to be seeking—but with something far more precious and permanent. The word of God that lives and remains forever isn't about securing our position; it's about being transformed from the inside out.
What emerges is a complete reversal of worldly logic. Greatness comes through service. Leadership flows from becoming last. The very Son of God came not to be served but to serve, giving his life as ransom.
This challenges us in our everyday relationships—at work, in our families, in our communities. The movement is always from self-promotion to self-gift, from climbing ladders to washing feet.
What cups of service is Christ inviting you to drink today? How might your desire for recognition be transformed into genuine care for others?