#(fr thank you i am v grateful for the kind words today)

[daisychainsandbowties]

god i LOVE when fic writers choose to include bea's growth and especially her growth in self-love and self-acceptance and by proxy, learning to live for herself, and i especially love when ava is a part of that journey... so all things considered, your chess au fic will destroy me, and i'm looking forward to it!

😭😭 i too am a sucker for Beatrice falling in love with Ava and, in doing so, falling in love with herself. and all because of the way Ava looks at her, touches her, sees her in a way no one else ever has, with the sort of genuine wonder you only get when you’ve come out into the light from a very dark place.

i love these characters a lot & it always feels important to do them justice individually. the fics that really work for me are the ones that make me fall in love with Ava and Bea all over again, fics that love the characters and paint them so beautifully that the romance unfolds naturally, all over again, in every universe.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

10th November >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 17:7-10 for Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time: ‘We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty’.

Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time  

Gospel (Except USA)

Luke 17:7-10

You are merely servants

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal immediately”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper laid; make yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink yourself afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.”’

Gospel (USA)

Luke 17:7-10

We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.

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.’”

Reflections (11)

(i) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The short parable Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading reminds us that we never have a claim on God. After we have done all that God asks of us, we cannot then say to God, ‘I am due some recompense for all that I have done’. That would be usual in the world of human affairs. People expect to be recompensed in proportion to the work they have done. However, that is not how we are to relate to God. God is never in debt to us no matter how generous we have been towards God. This is because our good work on God’s behalf is itself due to God’s good working within us. All the good we do is of God. Without God’s loving initiative towards us, we could do nothing that is pleasing to God. Saint Paul speaks in today’s first reading of how God’s grace was revealed towards us in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We have been greatly graced by God and all that is good in our lives is the fruit of that gracious initiative of God towards us. In faithfully serving God we are giving back to God what God has already given to us. Yet, elsewhere, the gospel makes clear that our efforts to serve the Lord well will always be met by further loving initiatives of the Lord towards us. The Lord’s love for us is a given; it doesn’t have to be earned. Our lives of loving service in response to the Lord’s love for us opens us up more fully to the Lord’s love for us. As Jesus says elsewhere, if we give to God, it will be given to us by God; a full measure, running over will be poured into our lap.

And/Or

(ii) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Giving with a view to getting was very much part of the culture of Jesus. Those who were in a position to give expected some kind of return. The patron who gave material assistance to his client expected that the client would give him in return some recognition and loyalty. Jesus formed around himself a community which was counter cultural in many ways. He did not want the prevailing ways of the culture to characterize this new kind of community, what came to be called the church. As a result, in Luke’s gospel Jesus says to his disciples, ‘if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much again’. In this morning’s gospel reading from Luke, Jesus speaks a parable that reflects the practice of slavery in his time. His disciples are called to be servants. Having served they are not to expect a reward for their service. They are not to look for some expression of gratitude. They are to give without looking for a return, because if they expect a return they are likely to stop serving when the return is not forthcoming. This was not the way of Jesus. His service, his giving, was at its most generous at the very moment when he was being shown the least possible appreciation, as he hung from the cross. He gave even when nothing was forthcoming except hostility. God ultimately responded to his generous self-giving, raising him from the dead. Jesus calls on us to follow his path of faithful service, trusting that in the end we too will receive far more from God than we have given.

 And/Or

(iii) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the culture of Jesus’ time servants who did their duty did not expect to be thanked for doing what was expected of them. Their faithfulness to their task did not put their master under any obligation to them. Jesus seems to be saying that something similar can be said about our relationship with God. We are called to serve God by our lives. We serve God by our worship, our efforts to walk in the way of his Son, to love one another as Jesus has loved us. We try to be faithful to this calling as best we can, day in and day out. Our efforts to be faithful do not place God under any obligation to us. At the end of the day, we have no claim on God, even after we have done all God asks of us. In a sense, we always come before God with empty hands, in our poverty. No matter how well we have served God, we are always beggars in God’s presence. Yet, it is that awareness of our own emptiness and poverty that opens us up to receive from God’s fullness. It is in becoming like little children that we enter the kingdom of God. In the words of Mary’s great prayer, the Magnificat, God fells the hungry with good things, whereas the rich he sends empty away.

 And/Or

(iv) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus often used the image of the servant drawn from the social world of his time to highlight the nature of his own ministry. In Luke’s gospel in the context of the last supper Jesus says, ‘Who is greater, the one who is at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves?’ Jesus identified more with the servant at the table than with those who were being served at table. In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus uses the same image with reference to his disciples. They are to think of themselves as servants rather than as people at table. Like servants, they must not look for or expect gratitude for the service that they render. Jesus seems to be saying that those who walk in his way serve others as he did, not for what is given in return but simply because it is the right thing to do. Service, in that sense, is its own reward. Jesus’ service of others was not dependant on how others related to him. He gave of himself regardless of how well or otherwise that was received. This was his way and it is also to be the way of his followers. We serve and leave the rest to God.

 And/Or

(v) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Pride is something we probably all struggle with. The more good we appear to be doing, the more we can be tempted to pride. The parable in this morning’s gospel reading warns against that tendency to pride on the part of those who do their duty and, indeed, do it well. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares, ‘When you have done all you have been told to do, say, “we are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty”’. In another parable Jesus spoke, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, the Pharisee displayed of the dutiful person; he boasted of the good life that he lived, and seemed to be of the view that his virtue gave him a claim on God. However, no matter how well we live, no matter how much we do what God asks of us, we never have a claim on God. The good news is that we don’t need a claim on God; we don’t need to score points to be sure of God’s favour. God has favoured us and keeps favouring us by giving us his Son. In response to that gift, we try to serve God faithfully, by doing his will, in so far as we can discern it. Our faithful service of the Lord will always be only a pale reflection of the Lord’s faithful service of us.

And/Or 

(vi) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The parable that Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading suggests that what really matters in our relationship with God is that we be faithful to what the Lord asks of us. The setting of the story is drawn from the culture in which Jesus lived. The servant in the story did what was asked of him; he dutifully kept to his routine day after day. He embodies faithfulness and reliability. In our relationship with God, we are called to be faithful, to stay the course. At times we may feel that God is very distant from us. We may consider that our religious practice has become something of a routine with little excitement; we may wonder if we are just going through the motions, with nothing much underpinning what we do. We may even suspect that we are losing faith. The parable assures us that God sees our faithfulness, even when we might doubt it, and that God values our faithful service, even when we are tempted to make light of it. Even though we may doubt our ability to stay the course, God will keep us faithful, if we ask him to do so. In that sense, faith, faithfulness, is more God’s doing than ours. Faith is always God’s gift to us, and it is given to all who desire it, no matter how small that desire may appear to us.

 And/Or

(vii) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

It was Mother Theresa who said that the Lord does not call us to be successful but to be faithful. The image that Jesus puts before us in today’s gospel reading is that of the faithful servant. The servant’s primary concern is to do his duty, to be faithful to his task. He is not concerned with being thanked for what he does; indeed, he doesn’t expect to be thanked or to be rewarded. Jesus appears to be saying that in our relationship with God, our primary concern should be with serving God faithfully rather than with what God might give us by way of gratitude or reward. We are to do the right thing, the good thing, what God wants, because it is the good thing to do and not because of the reward or acknowledgement we might get for doing it. We all value being appreciated; we like what we do to be acknowledged in some way. Yet, this morning’s gospel reading suggests that our service of the Lord and of each other is not to be become dependent on such acknowledgement. The prayer of Saint Ignatius comes to mind, ‘Lord, help me to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost… to labour and to ask for no reward’.

 And/Or

(viii) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The gospels suggest that Jesus was very observant of life as it was lived in his time. He observed what was happening and he was able to see how it could speak to us of our relationship with God. Slavery was part of the fabric of life in the time and culture of Jesus. People with a good supply of this world’s resources tended to have servants or slaves. There was an obvious inequality in that relationship; the servant was there to serve the master and not the other way around. The master would not normally express gratitude for the servant’s service, because such service was what was only to be expected. The master does not owe the servant gratitude; he is not in debt to the servant because the servant does what is expected of him. In the gospel reading Jesus seems to be saying that there is a certain parallel here to our relationship with God. God is never in debt to us; God does not owe us anything. Rather, we owe God our service. Jesus would stress that it is a service of love, in response to God’s love of us. Yet, this service does not entitle us to anything from God. Even after a long life of serving God, we have no claim on God. We always stand before God as beggars. This does not cause us any anxiety because we know from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that the God before whom we stand in our poverty is infinitely generous.

 And/Or

(ix) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus draws on an experience of life that would have been current in his time, although somewhat alien to our time, and that is the scenario of a master of the household with servants. When the servant has done what is expected of him, the master is not in debt to him. He doesn’t owe his servant anything, not even gratitude. Jesus is simply drawing attention to a certain reality of his time, without necessarily approving of it. It is a parable and like all the parables its meaning is not immediately obvious. Parables have a way of teasing us into thinking for ourselves. Jesus may be suggesting that even after we have done what God asks of us, God is not in our debt in any way. God never owes us anything. We don’t serve God to put God under some kind of obligation to us. Rather we serve God because it is the right thing to do. We serve God out of love and gratitude for all God has done and is doing for us. After we have done what God asks of us we simply entrust ourselves to his generous love, knowing that God will bless us in ways that will far surpass anything we may have done for God.

 And/Or

(x) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading Jesus draws on an aspect of human interaction that we are not as familiar with today, at least in this part of the world, the master-slave relationship. Jesus recognized all of human life as having the potential to speak to us about our relationship with God. When a slave had done all that was expected of him, he would not expect thanks from his master, because he was only doing his duty. People were thanked for acting over and beyond what was expected of them. Jesus does not explicitly draw out a lesson from this little image or parable. We have to reflect on the image ourselves and listen to what it might be saying to us about our relationship with God. Jesus seems to be saying that when we live the life that he calls us to live, and empowers us to live through his Spirit, we should not expect God to thank us for it as if we were doing God a favour. To serve others in response to the call of Jesus is a privilege. It requires no further reward. Our service of others is a response to the more wonderful service that God has given to us through his Son. At the end of the day, it is we who need to thank God and not God who needs to thank us.

 And/Or

(xi) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time 

In today’s first reading, Saint Paul makes a distinction between worldly ambitions and the ambition to do good. Paul equates ‘worldly ambitions’ with ‘everything that does not lead to God’, which we are to give up. It can be good to ask ourselves the question, ‘Where is this leading me?’ ‘Is it leading me to God?’ We try to discern as we go through life what is leading me to God and what is leading me away from God, what is damaging my relationship with God and what is deepening my relationship with God. In the gospel reading, Jesus identifies one attitude which can be damaging to our relationship with God. It is the attitude of entitlement before God. It is the attitude which says to God, ‘I have served you well. I have lived a good life. Now it is your turn to serve me. You need to show your gratitude to me’. In contrast to such an attitude, Jesus puts before us the attitude of those who, after they have done all that God asks, simply say to God, ‘I am merely your servant; I have done no more than my duty’. In other words, ‘You owe me nothing’. Our ambition to do good, our good life, our service of the Lord, does not entitle us to anything from God. Before we did anything, God has already been generous with us. As Paul says at the beginning of the first reading, ‘God’s grace has been revealed’ in the life, death and resurrection of God’s Son. We have all been greatly graced by God, through Jesus. All the good we do, our service of God, is no more than our grateful response to God’s prior generous love towards us.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

12th November >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Luke 17:7-10 for Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time: ‘We have done no more than our duty’.

Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Luke 17:7-10

You are merely servants

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal immediately”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper laid; make yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink yourself afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.”’

Gospel (USA)

Luke 17:7-10

We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.

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.’”

Reflections (11)

(i) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus’ images and parables are always drawn from his own time, place and culture. In Jesus’ day, very wealthy people had many servants, and even reasonably well-off people had at least one servant. Jesus’ little parable simply reflects the reality that when such a servant had done his duty, he has no claim on his master’s gratitude and his master in under no obligation to thank him. Jesus seems to be suggesting that even after we have lived in the way God calls us to live, that in itself does not give us any claim on God. No matter how well we live, God is never in our debt. However, elsewhere Jesus makes clear that God does not relate to us as a master to his servants. God is more like the father in the parable of the prodigal son who lavishes his love on his undeserving son. That son certainly had no claim on his father, but he didn’t need to have any claim on him. His father gave to his son out of the enormous generosity of his love. Similarly, although we never have a claim on God, we don’t need to have such a claim. God will always be more generous towards us than we are towards God. The first reading from the Book of Wisdom declares that, in eternity, ‘grace and mercy await’ those who have been faithful to God. Jesus has shown us that God’s grace and mercy awaits us in this life too, indeed, every day of our lives. We may always be ‘ merely servants’, in the language of the gospel reading, even after we have lived well, but God does not relate to us just as servants but also as friends with whom he shares generously.

And/Or

(ii) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Giving with a view to getting was very much part of the culture of Jesus. Those who were in a position to give expected some kind of return. The patron who gave material assistance to his client expected that the client would give him in return some recognition and loyalty. Jesus formed around himself a community which was counter cultural in many ways. He did not want the prevailing ways of the culture to characterize this new kind of community, what came to be called the church. As a result, in Luke’s gospel Jesus says to his disciples, ‘if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much again’. In this morning’s gospel reading from Luke, Jesus speaks a parable that reflects the practice of slavery in his time. His disciples are called to be servants. Having served they are not to expect a reward for their service. They are not to look for some expression of gratitude. They are to give without looking for a return, because if they expect a return they are likely to stop serving when the return is not forthcoming. This was not the way of Jesus. His service, his giving, was at its most generous at the very moment when he was being shown the least possible appreciation, as he hung from the cross. He gave even when nothing was forthcoming except hostility. God ultimately responded to his generous self-giving, raising him from the dead. Jesus calls on us to follow his path of faithful service, trusting that in the end we too will receive far more from God than we have given.

 And/Or

(iii) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the culture of Jesus’ time servants who did their duty did not expect to be thanked for doing what was expected of them. Their faithfulness to their task did not put their master under any obligation to them. Jesus seems to be saying that something similar can be said about our relationship with God. We are called to serve God by our lives. We serve God by our worship, our efforts to walk in the way of his Son, to love one another as Jesus has loved us. We try to be faithful to this calling as best we can, day in and day out. Our efforts to be faithful do not place God under any obligation to us. At the end of the day, we have no claim on God, even after we have done all God asks of us. In a sense, we always come before God with empty hands, in our poverty. No matter how well we have served God, we are always beggars in God’s presence. Yet, it is that awareness of our own emptiness and poverty that opens us up to receive from God’s fullness. It is in becoming like little children that we enter the kingdom of God. In the words of Mary’s great prayer, the Magnificat, God fells the hungry with good things, whereas the rich he sends empty away.

 And/Or

(iv) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus often used the image of the servant drawn from the social world of his time to highlight the nature of his own ministry. In Luke’s gospel in the context of the last supper Jesus says, ‘Who is greater, the one who is at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves?’ Jesus identified more with the servant at the table than with those who were being served at table. In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus uses the same image with reference to his disciples. They are to think of themselves as servants rather than as people at table. Like servants, they must not look for or expect gratitude for the service that they render. Jesus seems to be saying that those who walk in his way serve others as he did, not for what is given in return but simply because it is the right thing to do. Service, in that sense, is its own reward. Jesus’ service of others was not dependant on how others related to him. He gave of himself regardless of how well or otherwise that was received. This was his way and it is also to be the way of his followers. We serve and leave the rest to God.

 And/Or

(v) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

Pride is something we probably all struggle with. The more good we appear to be doing, the more we can be tempted to pride. The parable in this morning’s gospel reading warns against that tendency to pride on the part of those who do their duty and, indeed, do it well. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares, ‘When you have done all you have been told to do, say, “we are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty”’. In another parable Jesus spoke, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, the Pharisee displayed of the dutiful person; he boasted of the good life that he lived, and seemed to be of the view that his virtue gave him a claim on God. However, no matter how well we live, no matter how much we do what God asks of us, we never have a claim on God. The good news is that we don’t need a claim on God; we don’t need to score points to be sure of God’s favour. God has favoured us and keeps favouring us by giving us his Son. In response to that gift, we try to serve God faithfully, by doing his will, in so far as we can discern it. Our faithful service of the Lord will always be only a pale reflection of the Lord’s faithful service of us.

 And/Or

(vi) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The parable that Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading suggests that what really matters in our relationship with God is that we be faithful to what the Lord asks of us. The setting of the story is drawn from the culture in which Jesus lived. The servant in the story did what was asked of him; he dutifully kept to his routine day after day. He embodies faithfulness and reliability. In our relationship with God, we are called to be faithful, to stay the course. At times we may feel that God is very distant from us. We may consider that our religious practice has become something of a routine with little excitement; we may wonder if we are just going through the motions, with nothing much underpinning what we do. We may even suspect that we are losing faith. The parable assures us that God sees our faithfulness, even when we might doubt it, and that God values our faithful service, even when we are tempted to make light of it. Even though we may doubt our ability to stay the course, God will keep us faithful, if we ask him to do so. In that sense, faith, faithfulness, is more God’s doing than ours. Faith is always God’s gift to us, and it is given to all who desire it, no matter how small that desire may appear to us.

 And/Or

(vii) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

It was Mother Theresa who said that the Lord does not call us to be successful but to be faithful. The image that Jesus puts before us in today’s gospel reading is that of the faithful servant. The servant’s primary concern is to do his duty, to be faithful to his task. He is not concerned with being thanked for what he does; indeed, he doesn’t expect to be thanked or to be rewarded. Jesus appears to be saying that in our relationship with God, our primary concern should be with serving God faithfully rather than with what God might give us by way of gratitude or reward. We are to do the right thing, the good thing, what God wants, because it is the good thing to do and not because of the reward or acknowledgement we might get for doing it. We all value being appreciated; we like what we do to be acknowledged in some way. Yet, this morning’s gospel reading suggests that our service of the Lord and of each other is not to be become dependent on such acknowledgement. The prayer of Saint Ignatius comes to mind, ‘Lord, help me to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost… to labour and to ask for no reward’.

 And/Or

(viii) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

The gospels suggest that Jesus was very observant of life as it was lived in his time. He observed what was happening and he was able to see how it could speak to us of our relationship with God. Slavery was part of the fabric of life in the time and culture of Jesus. People with a good supply of this world’s resources tended to have servants or slaves. There was an obvious inequality in that relationship; the servant was there to serve the master and not the other way around. The master would not normally express gratitude for the servant’s service, because such service was what was only to be expected. The master does not owe the servant gratitude; he is not in debt to the servant because the servant does what is expected of him. In the gospel reading Jesus seems to be saying that there is a certain parallel here to our relationship with God. God is never in debt to us; God does not owe us anything. Rather, we owe God our service. Jesus would stress that it is a service of love, in response to God’s love of us. Yet, this service does not entitle us to anything from God. Even after a long life of serving God, we have no claim on God. We always stand before God as beggars. This does not cause us any anxiety because we know from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that the God before whom we stand in our poverty is infinitely generous.

 And/Or

(ix) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus draws on an experience of life that would have been current in his time, although somewhat alien to our time, and that is the scenario of a master of the household with servants. When the servant has done what is expected of him, the master is not in debt to him. He doesn’t owe his servant anything, not even gratitude. Jesus is simply drawing attention to a certain reality of his time, without necessarily approving of it. It is a parable and like all the parables its meaning is not immediately obvious. Parables have a way of teasing us into thinking for ourselves. Jesus may be suggesting that even after we have done what God asks of us, God is not in our debt in any way. God never owes us anything. We don’t serve God to put God under some kind of obligation to us. Rather we serve God because it is the right thing to do. We serve God out of love and gratitude for all God has done and is doing for us. After we have done what God asks of us we simply entrust ourselves to his generous love, knowing that God will bless us in ways that will far surpass anything we may have done for God.

 And/Or

(x) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading Jesus draws on an aspect of human interaction that we are not as familiar with today, at least in this part of the world, the master-slave relationship. Jesus recognized all of human life as having the potential to speak to us about our relationship with God. When a slave had done all that was expected of him, he would not expect thanks from his master, because he was only doing his duty. People were thanked for acting over and beyond what was expected of them. Jesus does not explicitly draw out a lesson from this little image or parable. We have to reflect on the image ourselves and listen to what it might be saying to us about our relationship with God. Jesus seems to be saying that when we live the life that he calls us to live, and empowers us to live through his Spirit, we should not expect God to thank us for it as if we were doing God a favour. To serve others in response to the call of Jesus is a privilege. It requires no further reward. Our service of others is a response to the more wonderful service that God has given to us through his Son. At the end of the day, it is we who need to thank God and not God who needs to thank us.

 And/Or

(xi) Tuesday, Thirty Second Week in Ordinary Time 

When a loved one dies, family members will take care to choose readings for the funeral Mass that in some way reflects the life of the person who has died. Today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom is a reading that is often chosen for a funeral Mass. It is easy to understand why. The Book of Wisdom from which the reading comes was written within a hundred years of the birth of Jesus. It anticipates Jesus’ message about eternal life. It declares that the virtuous or the faithful are at peace beyond death, that they will live with God in love, and that grace and mercy awaits them. Death is a door through which the faithful enter into God’s peace, love, grace and mercy. It is a very hopeful vision of life beyond death. Jesus will declare some years after this book was written that those who believe in him will never die, in the sense that they will come to share in his own risen life. Sharing in his risen life will be an experience of peace, love, grace and mercy. The parable that Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading suggests that such a life, for which we long and hope, will always be the Lord’s gift to us. It is not something we earn or can lay claim to in some kind of deserving way. Just as the servant in Jesus’ culture had no claim on his Master for doing his duty, so, we, have no claim on God, even after we have done all that God asks of us. We live as God wants us to live not because we think it entitles us to something from God, but simply out of gratitude to God for all that he has already given us through Jesus and for all that he has yet to give us beyond this earthly life.

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: sjtbclontarf@eircom.net or  revmartinhogan@gmail.com

Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie  Please join us via our webcam.

Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC.

Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf.

Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

[frmartinshomiliesandreflections]

14th Nov >> Fr. Martin's Gospel Reflection on Luke 17:7-10 for Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time: “We are merely servants”.

Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Luke 17:7-10

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal immediately”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper laid; make yourself tidy and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink yourself afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.”’

Gospel (USA)

Luke 17:7-10

We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.

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.’”

Reflections (10)

(i) Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

When a loved one dies, family members will take care to choose readings for the funeral Mass that in some way reflects the life of the person who has died. Today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom is a reading that is often chosen for a funeral Mass. It is easy to understand why. The Book of Wisdom from which the reading comes was written within a hundred years of the birth of Jesus. It anticipates Jesus’ message about eternal life. It declares that the virtuous or the faithful are at peace beyond death, that they will live with God in love, and that grace and mercy awaits them. Death is a door through which the faithful enter into God’s peace, love, grace and mercy. It is a very hopeful vision of life beyond death. Jesus will declare some years after this book was written that those who believe in him will never die, in the sense that they will come to share in his own risen life. Sharing in his risen life will be an experience of peace, love, grace and mercy. The parable that Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading suggests that such a life, for which we long and hope, will always be the Lord’s gift to us. It is not something we earn or can lay claim to in some kind of deserving way. Just as the servant in Jesus’ culture had no claim on his Master for doing his duty, so, we, have no claim on God, even after we have done all that God asks of us. We live as God wants us to live not because we think it entitles us to something from God, but simply out of gratitude to God for all that he has already given us through Jesus and for all that he has yet to give us beyond this earthly life.

And/Or

(ii) Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Giving with a view to getting was very much part of the culture of Jesus. Those who were in a position to give expected some kind of return. The patron who gave material assistance to his client expected that the client would give him in return some recognition and loyalty. Jesus formed around himself a community which was counter cultural in many ways. He did not want the prevailing ways of the culture to characterize this new kind of community, what came to be called the church. As a result, in Luke’s gospel Jesus says to his disciples, ‘if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much again’. In this morning’s gospel reading from Luke, Jesus speaks a parable that reflects the practice of slavery in his time. His disciples are called to be servants. Having served they are not to expect a reward for their service. They are not to look for some expression of gratitude. They are to give without looking for a return, because if they expect a return they are likely to stop serving when the return is not forthcoming. This was not the way of Jesus. His service, his giving, was at its most generous at the very moment when he was being shown the least possible appreciation, as he hung from the cross. He gave even when nothing was forthcoming except hostility. God ultimately responded to his generous self-giving, raising him from the dead. Jesus calls on us to follow his path of faithful service, trusting that in the end we too will receive far more from God than we have given.

And/Or

(iii) Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the culture of Jesus’ time servants who did their duty did not expect to be thanked for doing what was expected of them. Their faithfulness to their task did not put their master under any obligation to them. Jesus seems to be saying that something similar can be said about our relationship with God. We are called to serve God by our lives. We serve God by our worship, our efforts to walk in the way of his Son, to love one another as Jesus has loved us. We try to be faithful to this calling as best we can, day in and day out. Our efforts to be faithful do not place God under any obligation to us. At the end of the day, we have no claim on God, even after we have done all God asks of us. In a sense, we always come before God with empty hands, in our poverty. No matter how well we have served God, we are always beggars in God’s presence. Yet, it is that awareness of our own emptiness and poverty that opens us up to receive from God’s fullness. It is in becoming like little children that we enter the kingdom of God. In the words of Mary’s great prayer, the Magnificat, God fells the hungry with good things, whereas the rich he sends empty away.

And/Or

(iv) Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Jesus often used the image of the servant drawn from the social world of his time to highlight the nature of his own ministry. In Luke’s gospel in the context of the last supper Jesus says, ‘Who is greater, the one who is at table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves?’ Jesus identified more with the servant at the table than with those who were being served at table. In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus uses the same image with reference to his disciples. They are to think of themselves as servants rather than as people at table. Like servants, they must not look for or expect gratitude for the service that they render. Jesus seems to be saying that those who walk in his way serve others as he did, not for what is given in return but simply because it is the right thing to do. Service, in that sense, is its own reward. Jesus’ service of others was not dependant on how others related to him. He gave of himself regardless of how well or otherwise that was received. This was his way and it is also to be the way of his followers. We serve and leave the rest to God.

And/Or

(v) Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

Pride is something we probably all struggle with. The more good we appear to be doing, the more we can be tempted to pride. The parable in this morning’s gospel reading warns against that tendency to pride on the part of those who do their duty and, indeed, do it well. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares, ‘When you have done all you have been told to do, say, “we are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty”’. In another parable Jesus spoke, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, the Pharisee displayed of the dutiful person; he boasted of the good life that he lived, and seemed to be of the view that his virtue gave him a claim on God. However, no matter how well we live, no matter how much we do what God asks of us, we never have a claim on God. The good news is that we don’t need a claim on God; we don’t need to score points to be sure of God’s favour. God has favoured us and keeps favouring us by giving us his Son. In response to that gift, we try to serve God faithfully, by doing his will, in so far as we can discern it. Our faithful service of the Lord will always be only a pale reflection of the Lord’s faithful service of us.

And/Or

(vi) Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

The parable that Jesus speaks in today’s gospel reading suggests that what really matters in our relationship with God is that we be faithful to what the Lord asks of us. The setting of the story is drawn from the culture in which Jesus lived. The servant in the story did what was asked of him; he dutifully kept to his routine day after day. He embodies faithfulness and reliability. In our relationship with God, we are called to be faithful, to stay the course. At times we may feel that God is very distant from us. We may consider that our religious practice has become something of a routine with little excitement; we may wonder if we are just going through the motions, with nothing much underpinning what we do. We may even suspect that we are losing faith. The parable assures us that God sees our faithfulness, even when we might doubt it, and that God values our faithful service, even when we are tempted to make light of it. Even though we may doubt our ability to stay the course, God will keep us faithful, if we ask him to do so. In that sense, faith, faithfulness, is more God’s doing than ours. Faith is always God’s gift to us, and it is given to all who desire it, no matter how small that desire may appear to us.

And/Or

(vii) Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

It was Mother Theresa who said that the Lord does not call us to be successful but to be faithful. The image that Jesus puts before us in today’s gospel reading is that of the faithful servant. The servant’s primary concern is to do his duty, to be faithful to his task. He is not concerned with being thanked for what he does; indeed, he doesn’t expect to be thanked or to be rewarded. Jesus appears to be saying that in our relationship with God, our primary concern should be with serving God faithfully rather than with what God might give us by way of gratitude or reward. We are to do the right thing, the good thing, what God wants, because it is the good thing to do and not because of the reward or acknowledgement we might get for doing it. We all value being appreciated; we like what we do to be acknowledged in some way. Yet, this morning’s gospel reading suggests that our service of the Lord and of each other is not to be become dependent on such acknowledgement. The prayer of Saint Ignatius comes to mind, ‘Lord, help me to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost… to labour and to ask for no reward’.

And/Or

(viii) Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

The gospels suggest that Jesus was very observant of life as it was lived in his time. He observed what was happening and he was able to see how it could speak to us of our relationship with God. Slavery was part of the fabric of life in the time and culture of Jesus. People with a good supply of this world’s resources tended to have servants or slaves. There was an obvious inequality in that relationship; the servant was there to serve the master and not the other way around. The master would not normally express gratitude for the servant’s service, because such service was what was only to be expected. The master does not owe the servant gratitude; he is not in debt to the servant because the servant does what is expected of him. In the gospel reading Jesus seems to be saying that there is a certain parallel here to our relationship with God. God is never in debt to us; God does not owe us anything. Rather, we owe God our service. Jesus would stress that it is a service of love, in response to God’s love of us. Yet, this service does not entitle us to anything from God. Even after a long life of serving God, we have no claim on God. We always stand before God as beggars. This does not cause us any anxiety because we know from the life, death and resurrection of Jesus that the God before whom we stand in our poverty is infinitely generous.

And/Or

(ix) Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus draws on an experience of life that would have been current in his time, although somewhat alien to our time, and that is the scenario of a master of the household with servants. When the servant has done what is expected of him, the master is not in debt to him. He doesn’t owe his servant anything, not even gratitude. Jesus is simply drawing attention to a certain reality of his time, without necessarily approving of it. It is a parable and like all the parables its meaning is not immediately obvious. Parables have a way of teasing us into thinking for ourselves. Jesus may be suggesting that even after we have done what God asks of us, God is not in our debt in any way. God never owes us anything. We don’t serve God to put God under some kind of obligation to us. Rather we serve God because it is the right thing to do. We serve God out of love and gratitude for all God has done and is doing for us. After we have done what God asks of us we simply entrust ourselves to his generous love, knowing that God will bless us in ways that will far surpass anything we may have done for God.

And/Or

(x) Tuesday, Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

In the gospel reading Jesus draws on an aspect of human interaction that we are not as familiar with today, at least in this part of the world, the master-slave relationship. Jesus recognized all of human life as having the potential to speak to us about our relationship with God. When a slave had done all that was expected of him, he would not expect thanks from his master, because he was only doing his duty. People were thanked for acting over and beyond what was expected of them. Jesus does not explicitly draw out a lesson from this little image or parable. We have to reflect on the image ourselves and listen to what it might be saying to us about our relationship with God. Jesus seems to be saying that when we live the life that he calls us to live, and empowers us to live through his Spirit, we should not expect God to thank us for it as if we were doing God a favour. To serve others in response to the call of Jesus is a privilege. It requires no further reward. Our service of others is a response to the more wonderful service that God has given to us through his Son. At the end of the day, it is we who need to thank God and not God who needs to thank us.

Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland.

Email: sjtbclontarf@eircom.net or  frmartinhogan@gmail.com

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