In today's Gospel reading, St. Mark tells us about the time when two apostles, James and John, made an important request to the Lord. They asked the Lord, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left” (Mark 10:37). St. Matthew, in his Gospel, written several years later, tells us that it was the mother of these two brothers who made the request. The Gospel writers did not write these things about the disciples so that we could marvel at their imperfections but rather that we could see ourselves reflected in the disciples and learn from them.

The Lord had already spoken to the disciples about the suffering servant and the need for humility in service. The disciples did not seem to understand. James and John, along with Peter, were given special status by the Lord among the apostles. Perhaps James and John, counting on that special status, expected that the Lord would grant them anything even before they had asked for it.

The Lord told them to make the request. Again, they asked the Lord to grant them, in his glory, to sit one at his right and the other at his left. They did not really know what the Lord’s glory meant. They wanted to be the most powerful people at the Lord's side when it happened. And they did not want to run the risk of someone else getting ahead of them in asking for that privilege.

The Lord did not reproach them for their audacity but asked them about their willingness to follow his example. The Lord asked them, "Can you drink the cup that I drink?" In the Old Testament, the cup is a metaphor for what God has in store for someone. The cup could be either a cup of blessing or a cup of God's wrath. The Lord seems to be referring to the cup of God's wrath in this case. Drinking from the cup symbolized the Lord's acceptance of the full impact of God's judgment on sin.

By asking James and John if they could drink from the cup, the Lord was asking them if they were willing to join him in his redemptive suffering. James and John responded that they could drink from that cup. Weeks later at the cross, they would realize the irony of their request. Those who were on the right and left of the Lord were the two crucified thieves. At the foot of the cross, St. John heard the repentant thief's request to the Lord: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). This is the request that should be in our prayers. Our prayers should not be based on our own merits but on the Lord’s mercy.

The Lord took James and John’s willingness seriously. They drank from the cup. James was the first of the apostles to give his life for the Lord. Suffering is always the doorway to glory.

Human nature is tainted by sin, and, like James and John, we dream of prominence and power and prestige. The Lord always listens to our requests, no matter how absurd they may seem. A spiritual teacher said that when we seek to find God's will in our life and are faced with two alternatives, we must choose the option that involves more pain for us.

The question that the Lord asked James and John is fundamental for a disciple: "Can you drink the cup that I drink?" At Mass the Lord asks us if we are willing to join him in his redemptive suffering. At Mass the Lord sacrifices himself for us and invites us to drink from his cup of redemptive suffering, to unite ourselves to his sacrifice through our own sacrifices.

The word “cup” also refers to the cup of the Lord’s blood, through which the Lord’s passion becomes the source of salvation to all who receive it. The cup of the Lord’s blood is the source of divine grace that empowers us to drink from the other cup, the cup of suffering. Let us humbly ask the Lord to grant us this special grace.