Serve Others, Serve Life

My homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. 

 

 

Location: Basilica of Saint Francis Xavier (Dyersville, IA) – 5 p.m. Saturday & 10:30 a.m. Sunday

                Saint Paul Catholic Church (Worthington, IA) – 9 a.m. Sunday

Date: Sunday October 6^th, 2013 (27^th Sunday in OT, Year C; Respect Life Sunday)

READINGS:

1st Reading: Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4
Resp. Psalm: Ps. 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
2^nd Reading: 2 Timothy 1:6-8, 13-14
Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

FOCUS: Christians are called to be servants to others, and to do this humbly.  

FUNCTION: Think about ways you can get involved in little acts of service to others.  

            The idea of service isn’t always a positive one for people.  Although it doesn’t happen around here, in other parts of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Catholic high school students might be asked to do hours of service every year; or confirmation students might be asked to fulfill a number of service hours in preparation for the sacrament of confirmation; or parish circle members might be asked to serve at various parish activities; and sometimes – believe it or not – people aren’t always happy about the idea of service. 

          As I said, I know this doesn’t happen around here, but it does happen in other parts of the Archdiocese of Dubuque and the world.  We don’t want to serve; often, we just want to be served.  That’s why we have fast food restaurants where someone else will make our food and bring it out to us; car wash places where all we have to do is stick $8 into a machine and the machine inside will wash the car for us; and businesses where we can order things like lumber or rock or soil and someone else will load it up or deliver it for us. 

          The idea of serving others isn’t always appealing; but in our fallen humanity, the idea of being served by others always seems like a good idea.  We’re just fallen and sinful creatures; that’s why we like the idea of being served more than we do serving others.  But service is a part of life, especially for us as Christians.  We are called to serve others and to serve God; we are called to be selfless and self-giving, in imitation of Our Lord who said that He came “not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many,” (see Matthew 20:28).  And that’s Jesus’ message in today’s Gospel – “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.’”

          To those of us – myself included – who sometimes like being served more than we like serving, this is a challenge; it’s a challenge to have a humble attitude about what’s asked of us, to not throw a fit about having to do something, and realizing that being involved in service is just part of what it means to be human, and what it means to be a Christian.  We’re all called to serve; the challenge is to do it with a smile; and to realize that we serve something bigger than ourselves – that we serve the advancement of the kingdom of God, the betterment of humanity, and the true development of the world.  Then it’s easy to see that service is meant to build up a worthy cause; and we can take good pride (as opposed to sinful pride) in what our service accomplishes. 

          One cause that we might think about serving in this month of October is the cause of life – respect for all life, from conception to natural death.  October is Respect Life Month.  It’s the month that we dedicate to reaching out and promoting activities that work to serve and defend the dignity and the right to life of all human beings.  And serving the cause of life isn’t something that should be considered a burden; just the opposite is true – to serve the cause of life should be considered a great privilege to make a difference in the lives of people around us.  That’s the beauty of service – the knowledge that we’re making a difference in the lives of others and in the world around us.

          The theme that our Bishops have chosen for this Respect Life Month is “Open your hearts to life!”  As part of this month, and as we observe today as Respect Life Sunday, I’d like to read you a small part of the Respect Life Sunday statement put out by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the Archbishop of Boston and Chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.  The full statement, along with additional resources for Respect Life Month, can be found on the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops – usccb.org.   

          Cardinal O’Malley says, “What does it mean to open our hearts to life?  It means to search our souls and acknowledge our deepest longing for Christ's love.  Though we are capable of sins against human life such as abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia, we are not beyond Christ's mercy.  It is important for us to know and share with others that Christ's forgiveness is offered even to those who have taken another person's life, if they are truly repentant of that act.

          We must respond to Pope Francis' call with great urgency.  Opening our hearts to life in Christ empowers us for loving, merciful action toward others.  We must give witness to the Gospel of Life and evangelize through our lives.  We must personally engage others and share the truth about human life.  We must continue to show love and mercy, especially with those who have been involved in abortion. All members of the Church can bring healing to the world by upholding the beauty of human life and God's unfailing mercy.

          Only a tender, compassionate love that seeks to serve those most in need, whatever the personal cost, is strong enough to overcome a culture of death and to build a civilization of love.  Let us open our hearts and reflect on how God might be calling each of us to witness the sacredness of human life and assist in pro-life efforts. We may be called to help parents welcome their unborn child as a miracle of God's creation, to visit the elderly or aid those who are sick and suffering, to pray and fast for life, to advocate to our elected officials, or to assist educational efforts in our parishes.

          We entrust all these efforts to the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, and her husband St. Joseph. They are models of virtue and holiness who gave everything to welcome Jesus into their lives despite the hardships. With their assistance, may each of us have the courage to open our hearts to life.”

          God’s calling us to serve Him and His kingdom; He’s calling us to defend and protect the right to life; and He’s calling us to put aside our occasional grumblings and work to right the wrongs we see happening in the world around us.  Changing the world doesn’t happen when nobody cares; but changing the world does happen when people care enough to enough to change themselves, the way they live and the way they think, the things they say, and the things they do.  And we can change the world through service, through defending life, through working to make this world we live in a better place so that God’s kingdom can grow.  To make that happen, consider doing one random act of kindness a day, every day.  Because making God’s kingdom present in the world starts with us.