"If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all" Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 9:30-37.

Book of Wisdom 2:12.17-20. 

The wicked says: "Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, Reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training.
Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him.
For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes.
With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for according to his own words, God will take care of him."



Psalms 54(53):3-4.5.6.8. 

O God, by your name save me,
And by your might defend my cause.
O God, hear my prayer;
Hearken to the words of my mouth.

For the haughty men have risen up against me,
The ruthless seek my life;
They set not God before their eyes.

Behold, God is my helper;
The Lord sustains my life.
Freely will I offer you sacrifice;
I will praise your name, O LORD, for its goodness.





Letter of James 3:16-18.4:1-3. 

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.
But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.
Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?
You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask.
You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.



Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 9:30-37. 

Jesus and his disciples left from there and began a journey through Galilee, but he did not wish anyone to know about it.
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."
But they did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to question him.
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, he began to ask them, "What were you arguing about on the way?"
But they remained silent. They had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest.
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."
Taking a child he placed it in their midst, and putting his arms around it he said to them,
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.

"If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all"

Remember this saying : “God resists the proud but will always favor the humble” (Jas 4,6). Keep before you the Lord’s words: “Those who humble themselves will be exalted and those who exalt themselves will be humbled” (Mt 23,12)… If it seems to you that you have some good quality, set it to your account but without forgetting your faults; don’t boast about what you have done well today; don’t set aside recent and past evil. If the present gives you reason to glory, remember the past! That is how you will pierce the stupid abcess! And if you see your neighbour sinning, beware that you don’t just consider him in the light of this lapse but think, too, about what he is doing, or has done, that is good. Very often you will discover him to be better than you if you examine your life as a whole and don’t add up the fragmentary bits. For God doesn’t examine us in a fragmentary fashion… Let us often remember all this so as to preserve ourselves from pride, humbling ourselves so as to be raised up.

Let us imitate the Lord, who came down from heaven to the lowest depths… Yet after such a humbling he caused his glory to shine forth, glorifying with himself those who had been despised together with him. These were indeed, in fact, his first blessed disciples who, poor and naked, went out through all the world, without words of wisdom, without sumptuous escort, but alone and in anguish, vagabonds by land and by sea, beaten with rods, stoned, pursued and, in the end, put to death. Such as these are for us the divine teachings of our Father. Let us imitate them that we may also come to eternal glory, Christ’s perfect and authentic gift.