Can You Drink the Cup?

Were the sons of Zebedee embarrassed when their mother asked Jesus to give these sons choice seats in the kingdom?  Whether they were or not really does not matter, because Jesus changes the topic: “Can you drink of the cup that I am going to drink?” Well, of course, they can, they thought. What about us? We are offered many cups. The cup of suffering in the passion of Jesus and in our own physical and emotional sufferings. The chalice of the Eucharist. The cup of God’s overflowing goodness. The cup of our lives shaped and molded by the Divine Potter. From all these cups “you shall drink.”

We may have taken on some extra penances in Lent, and after two weeks these mortifications may seem rather burdensome. The anxiety-ridden pandemic is a year old, but this is not a first birthday to celebrate. And is there ever a day when there’s not at least one thing that we hate to do, but are obliged to do? With Jesus we say, “Take this cup away from me. But let it be as you would have it, not as I.”