Mt 20:17-28
17As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve [disciples] aside by themselves...
20Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee approached him with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. 21He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered him, “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.” 22Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” 23He replied, “My cup you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left [, this] is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers.
25But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. 26But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; 27whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. 28Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Whoever wishes to be great. Why are we so concerned as to who is the greatest, the first, the fastest, the most beautiful, or the most intelligent? This attitude pits us against one another. We see our neighbor as a competitor, a rival, for the topmost honors. Well, we say, the survival of the fittest is the rule of the game.
Be careful: in your race to the top, you will find yourself alone when you get to the top. The problem with the rat race, they say, is that we all end up as rats. In your search for honor, you may find yourself honored by the world but left by the people you sacrificed pursuing your honor.
A race was organized for a group of autistic children. After the starting gun, the children ran clumsily towards the finish line. One of the kids suddenly fell on his face. While the crowd stood up in fear, all the children running the race stopped. What happened next was beyond the organizers’ expectation: the runners approached the fallen kid, helped him up, and then held hands as they ran to the finish line together.