What our intention should be

WE have to be most careful with our intentions because they play a crucial role in our moral life. Our intentions can determine the state of our life in relation to God and to the others. Together with the matter or object, and the circumstances surrounding our acts, our intention can referee whether our human acts are good or bad.

That gospel episode about the brothers James and John wanting to be seated at the sides of God in his kingdom (cfr. Mk 10,35-45) reminds us that while it’s good to desire what is best for us, we have to make sure that we are ready to do what it takes to achieve such intention, desire or ambition.

Again, while it’s nice to hear from the brothers that they were willing to “drink the cup” that Christ would drink, and to be “baptized with the baptism” with which Christ would be baptized, that is to say, that they were willing to suffer with Christ with their bold response of “We can,” Christ somehow corrected or purified their intention by telling them they should rather have the intention of serving and not to be served. That way, they can share in the glory of Christ himself.

Reinforcing this point, Christ told them clearly that “whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

I believe that these words are most relevant to us today, since we need to be reminded of a basic attitude we ought to have if we want to be truly human and Christian, with love supposedly the driving principle of our life.

To serve is the language and the action of love. It authenticates any affirmation of love we do, converting it from intention to tangible reality.

This is the attitude meant for us, with Christ himself as the exemplar. Imagine, Christ served us by dying on the cross. Before that, he shocked his apostles when he insisted that he be allowed to wash their feet. That was to give example to them, and us, so that what he did we would also do.

The angels too, superior to us in nature, are made to serve us, following a divine law articulated by Christ himself when he said: “Let him who is greatest among you become as the youngest, and him who is the chief as the servant.” (Lk 22,26)

We need to be more keenly aware of this law. This is truly what is good for us, providing us with the basic source of strength and consistency we need as we grapple with life’s endless challenges.

Before we worry about the big and destructive enemies of our soul, we have to realize that our most insidious foe is right within us, when this attitude of serving others is not firmly established in our mind and heart.

This eagerness to serve really has to be worked out, because with our fallen and wounded nature, every pore of our being tends to go against the law of love expressed in service that God meant for us. We need to come out with some strategies for this attitude of wanting to serve to be incorporated into our lifestyle.