By Katie Patrizio
The Holy Week narrative in the Gospels, when contextualized in the Old Testament, possesses a clear parallel with the crowning of Solomon as king of Israel. Solomon is sent to the Gihon Spring where he is anointed by Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet. Following his anointing he is placed upon a donkey which he rides triumphantly into Jerusalem. In like manner, Jesus travels to the Jordan River where he is anointed by John the Baptist who is the prophet par excellence and a priest by inheritance from his father. From there, Jesus announces the arrival of the Kingdom of God and eventually rides triumphantly into Jerusalem upon a donkey to mount his throne, a throne unlike any others, the throne of the cross.
In our Gospel reading today, James and John ask for the honor to sit at Jesus’ right and left when he comes into his glory. Our Lord’s reply “You do not know what you are asking” is quite telling. If Our Lord’s glory is the cross, then to sit at his right and left is to occupy the place of the two thieves, themselves mounted upon equally terrifying crosses. But Our Lord continues, “The cup that I drink, you will drink.” And we know that both James and John follow in the footsteps of their Master by way of martyrdom.
This weekend at St. Francis we will celebrate the Confirmation of over one hundred young people. The Catechism of the Catholic Church frames Confirmation as a perpetuation of the gift of Pentecost (CCC 1287-1288). At Pentecost, the disciples received power from on high that they might be “witnesses” (Acts 1:8). That word in the original Greek is telling. It is martyres which means martyr. Through the grace of Confirmation, we each receive strength to follow in the footsteps of the Master who gave his very life as a witness of love.
Today, the sacrifice of being faithful to the Christian way is no less trying. While physical martyrdom is not a concern in our American context, spiritual martyrdom most decidedly is. Our young people are called to live lives radically opposed to what the world offers, lives of chastity and sobriety, lives that are highly likely to get them ostracized and even bullied. May we side with our young people this weekend and ask for the grace to say with James and John (fully understanding the implication), “Lord, grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left!”