Gospel Reading
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
The Lord replied,
"If you have faith the size of a mustard seed,
you would say to this mulberry tree,
'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
"Who among you would say to your servant
who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
'Come here immediately and take your place at table'?
Would he not rather say to him,
'Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished'?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded,
say, 'We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.'"
Lk 17:5-10
Gospel Reflection
Praised be Jesus Christ!
The Lord loves us so much that He gave Himself totally for us. The Letter to the Philippians solidifies this when St. Paul says, "he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance" (Phil 2: 7). The Lord, the Son of God, emptied Himself and became man for us. But that's not all Jesus did for He, "become obedient to death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:8). In other words, Jesus Christ gave His entire life for us.
In the Gospel today, the exhausted servant is further tasked to serve His master. He just came in from his long day in the fields, which is presumably what he is assigned to do, and is told by his master to wait at table. Even though he is tired from a full day's work, he does it anyway out of obedience to his master. In the end, he is only doing what he is obligated to do as a servant, to listen to His master.
In our our spiritual life, we may consider ourselves as working hard to follow the Commandments and have a relationship with Christ through prayer. But we are only doing what we are obligated to do by our Baptism. Instead, we are called to give our entire lives to Christ. This is not just a task for religious, but for all of us. Do we offer our secular work to Christ and keep Christ in mind while we perform these tasks? Do we offer our home life and our leisure for the glory of God? If we don't, we should so that we cannot be called unprofitable, but rather profitable servants.
Let us take Christ as our model and give of ourselves in humble obedience to God our Father. If this is our goal, our reward will be that of a profitable servant: eternal life!
As always, know of my prayers before Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
+ Bishop Schlert
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