VAINGLORY

GOSPEL

Imagine how unsettling it must have been for the disciples to hear Jesus speak about His own death.
Nothing could have prepared them for this. But then we know how suffering, persecution, and even
death (like that of the martyrs) can glorify God, and through His providence, become instruments for
evangelization.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

May I never boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been
crucified to me and I to the world.

Mark 9:30-37

30 Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish
anyone to know about it. 31 He was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be
handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death he will rise.” 32 But they did
not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him. 33 They came to Capernaum, and
once inside the house, he began to ask them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they
remained silent. For they have been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest. 35
Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last
of all and the servant of all.” 36 Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it
he said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one child such as this in my name, receives me; and whoever
receives me, receives not me but the One who sent me.”

think: How would you feel if you heard Jesus talk about His own death?
 VAINGLORY

Some politicians use guns, goons, and gold to be in power. Some businessmen abuse and underpay their
workers to have bigger profits and to be super rich. Some athletes use performance-enhancing drugs to
win. Some students cheat in their exams to get academic honors. Why do people resort to these things?
I only have one word in mind: vainglory.

Vainglory or human glory always depends on competition in order to win, to succeed, to prosper, to
flourish. A person is given glory if he or she proves to be better, stronger, faster, richer, more powerful,
more influential, more popular, more intelligent, more successful, etc. The more our achievements or
feats in the arena of life, the more recognition we receive. The more human glory we get, the “greater”
we become in the eyes of other people.

According to Nil Guillemette, this appreciation follows what sociologists have come to describe as our
“upward mobility.” The higher we climb the ladder of success, the more glory we receive. However, all
too often, this same glory also brings about our doom. For human glory, based as it is on competition,
leads to rivalry. And rivalry carries in itself the seeds of violence. And violence is the way to death.

Due to our selfish ambitions and desire for positions of honor, we cause division in our community. Due
to our envious, covetous, and lustful hearts, we grab things that are not ours. Due to our excessive
desire to be the greatest, we become overly competitive. Our inability to obtain what we desire leads us
to violent action. This mentality is fed by the craving for human glory.

However, there is an antidote to vainglory’s deadly effects on us. We can counter vainglory’s poison by
using its very opposite. Since “upward mobility” is the nature of the poison, the only way to counteract
it is by “downward mobility”—the path of humility. Jesus’ glory came to Him not by seeking to be first
among people but by His self-giving on the cross. Fr. Nelson Orqueta

------- REFLECTION QUESTION -------

Check your desires and ambitions—are they for your own glory?
Teach me to temper my ambitions, Lord. May my ultimate desire be to please You and only You. Amen.