We are God's Servants

On October 3, 2010, The Holy Father visited the city of Palermo and celebrated an outdoor mass at Foro Italico Umberto I for the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time. Part of his homily focused on Jesus' parable about the servant returning from the fields who is asked to continue to serve the master rather than to take his rest.

"The second part of today's Gospel (Luke 17:7-10) presents another teaching, a teaching about humility that, nevertheless, is closely connected with faith. Jesus invites us to be humble and offers the example of a servant who works in the fields. When he returns home the master asks him to continue working. According to the mentality of Jesus' time the master had every right to do this. The servant owed the master his complete availability; and the master did not think himself obligated to him if he carried out his orders. Jesus makes us aware that, before God, we find ourselves in a similar situation: we are God's servants; we are not his creditors but we are always debtors in relation to him because we owe him everything, because everything is his gift. Accepting and doing his will is the way that we must live every day, in every moment of our life. Before God we must not present ourselves as those who believe that they have done a service and deserve a great recompense. This is an illusion that can arise in everyone, even in persons who do a much work in the Lord's service, in the Church. We must instead be aware that we never do enough for God. We must say, as Jesus suggests: 'We are useless servants. We did what we were obliged to do' (Luke 17:10). This is an attitude of humility that truly puts us in our place and permits the Lord to be very generous with us. In fact, in another passage of the Gospel, he promises us that 'he will gird himself, have us sit at table and will serve us' (cf. Luke 12:37). Dear Friends, if we do the Lord's will every day, with humility, without expecting anything from him, Jesus himself will serve us, help us, encourage us, give us strength and peace."

-- October 3, 2010 homily on the Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time given at an outdoor mass at Palermo's Foro Italico Umberto I.

From the Zenit.

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Messages from the Holy Father are featured on a regular basis. These words of wisdom will include quotes from homilies or addresses given by the Holy Father along with a link to learn more about the full text and context of the address.