Word to the Wise
Sunday, October 6, 2013 - 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C
[Habb 1:2-3; 2:2-4; 2 Tim 1:6-8, 13-14; Luke 17:5-10]When you have done all yo have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do. [Luke]
Many years ago a lady came to me for spiritual direction. She had an usual problem. She had so many devotional practices [represented in a large stack of devotional cards and leaflets] that she had run out of time to take care of them all! She was afraid that she would lose all the benefits of these devotions because she figured she had God obliged to her for them all. It didn't seem to occur to her that she was not in a position to "enforce" the "benefits" on the back of those cards! A deal was a deal!
Jesus points out that we are all God's servants and not the other way around. Even if we do all that we believe we are supposed to do, we cannot say to God, "You owe me!" We can be sure that God's mercy will take care of us if we are faithful, but we are not in charge of the relationship. The lady with the cards thought she had God cornered into keeping her out of purgatory! She mistook quantity [as if grace can be quatified] for quality [faithfulness]. What God expects of us is faithfulness. The rest is up to God. AMEN