Service is a quality of Love
We often meet with people's complaints that they are not heard by God despite very strenuous prayers. They say after all I prayed! Some still strengthen the legitimacy of their claims, stressing that they were asking not for their own good, but for the good of others. Why is God not listening?
Of course, we are unable to answer this question directly. We do not know what God's true plan is for each of us, why He does this to us. We do not know what the true meaning of the prayers to him is made by people who give such opinions. It seems, however, that today's readings should help us a little bit in finding answers relating to prayer, at least for ourselves.
The sentence from the letter of St. James: You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (cf. Jas 4:3), it is worth considering deeply. If we look at our prayers, most often they are requests for something that seems good to us. But is it really good? Today's Gospel shows how the thoughts of man differ from those of God. In the book of Isaiah, God says clearly: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways (cf. Is 55:8). A scene in today's gospel illustrates this perfectly. The Lord Jesus wanted to convey to his disciples the most difficult and, at the same time, the most important truth about his life: “The Son of Man is to be handed over to men and they will kill him, and three days after his death the Son of Man will rise.” (cf. Mk 9,31)
The disciples heard his words, but they did not understand any of them, and it must be said that they did not pay attention to them. On the way, they were busy with more important matters: they argued among themselves about who was the greatest Cf. Mk 9:34). The fact that they did not want to admit that this dispute indicated that they were aware that this showed their immaturity. Nevertheless, it eclipsed all their thinking. They could not calmly accept what Jesus wanted to convey to them. Therefore, in such a radical and unequivocal manner, he answered them: “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” (cf. Mk 9:35)
But the dispute not only distracted them from what the Lord Jesus wanted to tell them. This dispute showed how they really lived, what was important to them and what they really wanted. The thirst for power is one of the three classic desires: “sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life (cf. 1 Jn 2:16). Jesus' statement shows how different, even opposite, is God's thinking to that of man. Can God give a man what he knows is bad for him? Saint James writes that we do not receive, because it will only try to satisfy our own desires.
Our expectations are the greatest obstacle in our encounter with God. They block us from God's will. They don't let you see what's really best. And He wants to give us the best. We think wishfully, in relation to ourselves or to others. We think, we know what's really good. On the other hand, God's plan is quite different. By sticking to our ideas, we close ourselves to the truth and greater good that God wants to give us. Sometimes it comes through unwanted suffering, which is sometimes the only way to achieve something that we cannot understand in our mind. Even with regard to the son of God in his earthly life, the author of the letter to the Hebrews writes: And although he was a son of God, he learned obedience from what he suffered (cf. Heb 5:8)
One more thought
God identifies himself with a child, and the highest social position according to him is given by the attitude of service. Isn't that crazy?! Contrasted with the mentality of this world, the Gospel appears to be madness. But it was really this world that went mad when it began to despise the attitude of service, or young children and other people just because they are weak. The world has a chance to survive as long as there is an attitude of service and respect for the weak and defenseless in it.
Service is a quality of Love, and Love makes a person really great and strong. All other human greatness are artificial and empty.