Be Servants of the Lord

27th Week, Cycle C
Gospel: Lk. 17: 5 - 10
Photo courtesy of: Northern Dispatch Weekly

The gospel may sound uncharitable because the owner commands the servants to serve him first before themselves. But on second thought, it's probably right to be so because that's the main task of a servant, to do the will of the master, nothing more, nothing less.

The main challenge is: do we see ourselves as servants before the Lord or is the Lord our servant? When we go to the Church we remind Him to bless us and to hear our prayers. But we do little for Him. When he hears our prayers, we just ask the next one.

The picture of a servant is not new to us. Jesus is the main Servant in the whole work of salvation. "He emptied himself and took the form of a slave." And it is through this that salvation is possible. But do we see ourselves as servants?

I know how important it is for God to hear our prayers. But let's listen to Him first. If we do His will, we won't be praying for material prosperity, for health, for the safety of our family, for the upbringing of our children. If we do His will we won't be worried on how to get the next meal. If all people do His will first, poverty level will drastically go down and there will be an abundance of blessings, of food and life, simply because of an outpouring of generosity. Many will have jobs, the streets would be clean, and young people would grow up abhorring vices and wrong doing.

If we just fulfill our role as servants and not as masters, people would serve one another and would give glory to God.