Daily Catholic Lectio
Wed, 27 May 2026
VIII Week in Ordinary Time
1 Pet 1:18-25. Mk 10:32-45
With the Eyes of Jesus
Today’s Gospel begins with a deep human scene. Jesus is walking ahead of His disciples on the road to Jerusalem. Mark tells us that the disciples were amazed and afraid. Amazement and fear fill their hearts. They have heard Jesus speak about reward, about leaving everything, and about receiving a hundredfold. But now Jesus turns their eyes toward Jerusalem. He says, “We are going up to Jerusalem.”
For the disciples, Jerusalem still looks like a place of honour, power, and position. For Jesus, Jerusalem is the place of service, suffering, self-giving, death, and resurrection. The same city is seen in two different ways. The disciples look at Jerusalem with human eyes. Jesus looks at it with the eyes of the Father.
This difference becomes clear in the request of James and John. They come to Jesus and ask to sit at His right and left in His glory. They want to secure their place. They want nearness to Jesus, but they do not yet understand the way of Jesus. They desire the throne, but they have not understood the cup. They seek glory, but Jesus speaks of suffering. They imagine authority, but Jesus reveals service.
Jesus does not reject them. He corrects their vision. He teaches them that greatness in the Kingdom of God is not domination, but service. “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant.” Then He gives the heart of His mission: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
In this Gospel, three emotions move around the disciples: amazement, fear, and anger. They are amazed because the way of Jesus is beyond their understanding. They are afraid because Jerusalem means danger. Later, the other ten become angry with James and John. Their anger shows that they too desire the same positions. The request of two disciples exposes the ambition hidden in all.
These emotions are not evil in themselves. Amazement can open us to wonder, but it can also become confusion. Fear can protect us from danger, but it can also exaggerate reality. Anger can help us correct injustice, but it can also destroy relationships. When emotions rule the heart, we cannot learn the lesson Jesus wants to teach. The disciples are so disturbed by their feelings that they are not ready to receive the wisdom of the Cross.
The first reading gives us another way of seeing life. Saint Peter writes to a suffering community and reminds them of their dignity. They were not redeemed with silver or gold. They were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, like that of a spotless lamb. They were not born again from perishable seed, but from the imperishable seed of the living word of God.
This is the vision we need. With human eyes, we may see ourselves as weak, wounded, afraid, or insignificant. With the eyes of Jesus, we see that we are redeemed, loved, purified, and born anew. Our worth does not come from power, position, or human recognition. Our worth comes from the blood of Christ. Our future does not depend on perishable things. It is rooted in the living and enduring word of God.
The responsorial psalm invites us: “Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is an important image today. For the disciples, Jerusalem looked like the place where they could gain honour. For Jesus, it was the place where He would pour out His life. In the newly released encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV contrasts Babel and Jerusalem, inviting humanity not to build towers of pride and domination, but to rebuild Jerusalem in a spirit of dignity, responsibility, and communion.
This image speaks powerfully to today’s Gospel. Babel is the city of self-exaltation. Jerusalem, seen with the eyes of Jesus, becomes the city of self-giving. Babel says, “Let us make a name for ourselves.” Jesus says, “The Son of Man came to serve.” Babel seeks height. Jesus chooses depth. Babel builds upward in pride. Jesus goes downward in humility.
To look with the eyes of Jesus is to see differently. It is to see service where others see weakness. It is to see the Cross where others see failure. It is to see sacrifice where others see loss. It is to see people not as rivals, but as brothers and sisters. It is to see our own life not as a search for seats of honour, but as a call to give ourselves in love.
When we see with the eyes of Jesus, our hearts become mature. We are slowly freed from the slavery of uncontrolled emotions. Amazement becomes faith. Fear becomes courage. Anger becomes compassion. Ambition becomes service. Jerusalem becomes not a place of power, but a place of offering.
Fr Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
An initiative of “Yesni Prays”
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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