SERVANTS -- NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS, NOTHING ELSE

Tuesday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time

Lk 17:7-10

Today’s Gospel is always a timely reminder for us all. We have but one Master, Jesus Christ, and we are all His servants. We are not the masters; we are the servants. We are not called to lord it over one another; instead, our vocation is to serve God in one another. How often, we easily forget this truth.

The higher our positions become, the heavier our responsibilities weigh, and the more our duties increase, the greater is our tendency to at least expect a higher compensation, a heavier emphasis on our self-importance, and more privileges granted to us. This should not be so for a true servant of God. When all is said and done, Jesus admonishes us, we cannot claim to have rendered more than what we are supposed to give as servants of God. Our accomplishments for God does not entitle us to anything except the pure joy of being able to serve Him, for serving Him is in itself a reward.

Let us pause today from our daily routine, let us come down from our pedestals that others or we ourselves have built, and examine our motives for doing what we call “service to God”. Do we serve for the sheer privilege of serving God or for any reward other than being able to give Him honor by our service?

As I have been assigned to several parishes already, I already heard many comments from parish-servants that redound to exacting from God what they have given Him. They call their service “volunteerism” but they actually expect something in return for it.

Will God ever owe us anything?