The Gospel according to Luke (17:7-10)
Jesus said to the Apostles:
“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.’”
Reflection:
Today’s Gospel is one that seems very harsh on Jesus’ part. It sounds like He is saying that doing what our Master asks of us is not enough and that we are “unprofitable servants”. Is that really true? Now, if our God were truly the ultimate detailed “scorekeeper”, then the answer is yes. How can we ever do enough to be “profitable”? It would be so easy to sink into despair that we can never do enough to “earn” being called “profitable”, right?
Here’s the thing. Who were the “scorekeepers” of Jesus’ own day? The Pharisees, right? They watched all of their fellow Jews, seeking to catch them in not fulfilling one of the more than 600 Jewish laws, as the master in Jesus’ parable did. Our God is not like that. Jesus’ own mission and ministry show that. Jesus showed that the Father is the one who wants all to be redeemed, all to be forgiven, and all to be reunited with Him in His heavenly kingdom.
Does that mean we can just skate by and not pay attention to what we are asked to do? No, of course not. We should do our best to live a life that shines forth the love of God in *all* we do. We do that by living by the precepts of our faith – you know.. going to Mass every Sunday, trying to keep the Commandments, seeking the Sacraments as often as we can, being loving and forgiving to all (yes, even to that person who bugs us the most). God doesn’t want us *not* to do all of those things. They do help orient our priorities toward being the best child of His that we can be.
Where we get lost is if we think that doing those things somehow “earns” us God’s favor. That’s not how it works. If we think that, we are no better than the Pharisees that Jesus regularly scolded throughout the Gospels. We *should* do those things I mentioned, not because God is keeping score, but because we want do act in a way pleasing to Him.
And why should we do that? Because when we do, we are “profitable servants” in that we embody Jesus’ own example. What better performance appraisal can we ever hope for?
Action for the Day:
In these last three weeks of this liturgical year, let us take a moment today and see how we are in our motivation to live as good followers of Jesus. Are we trying to avoid punishment for *not* doing what our faith requires, or are we trying to live out our faith because it extends God’s kingdom when we act out of love? I know which of those I want to do, and on the best days, I do live out Jesus’ example. If today’s not like that for you or me, let’s ask Him to help us to just love and leave the results up to Him.
Let us also remember St Leo the Great, who turned away Attila the Hun from destroying Rome, just by his abilities of persuasion, and also his promulgating the teaching that Jesus truly has two natures: fully human and fully divine, settling hundreds of years of debate. That’s the power he wielded as Bishop of Rome. May we be thankful for his leadership of the Church and his teachings that we still hold to, that our Lord truly took on our humanity. What a gift that is!
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