“WE are worthless servants, we have only done our duty,” a secretary of a Cardinal referred to these words of the gospel years ago during a dinner-tribute for his superior. Obviously, he was expressing his loyalty and obedience to the Cardinal.
I have also thought of this gospel verse recently when I learned that my former classmate, a pastor of a parish in the Philippines, has just transferred to another church after serving for seven years in his previous assignment. He had performed well as a pastor and exceeded the expectations of his parishioners. He worked tirelessly to build up the faith of the community, to renovate the church and the school, and to construct new meeting places for his parishioners. Absolutely, he had only done his duties.
But the word, “worthless,” in the Gospel verse is striking. It seems to demean one’s self worth. To understand the use of this word, one needs to know that in the Greek adjective it literally means “without need.” Hence another rendition for this verse would be: “We are servants and deserve no credit.”
In this present time when the culture breeds the attitude of self-entitlement, we need to remember this Gospel verse. We’re fulfilling our duties and responsibilities not for any self-centered reason but for the honor and glory of God. As God is loyal to us, we too must show the same loyalty to him by being good stewards of our lives.
This selfless attitude of service must also penetrate into our financial support to our church and our volunteer work. We share our time,’talent and treasure with our parish because of duty. We don’t expect anything in return; we have received many blessings from God, and it is but right to show our loyalty to him by being generous with our resources.
In the past two weeks, we have been recruiting new volunteers for our liturgical ministries. We have been getting interested parishioners to serve our church. During my interviews with new candidates, I emphasize the importance of showing good examples to other parishioners by their selflessness, cooperation and generosity to our church, which is shown in concrete matters such as registering as a member of the parish and using envelopes to give their weekly donation.
We find meaning and joy in serving one’s family, church, community and country. Ultimately, it is our duty to love God and our neighbors that motivate us to serve. May we accomplish this duty with great zeal and commitment!
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Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas attended St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California and earned his Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. For twenty years, he has been in the parish ministry of large multi-cultural communities. Since 2002, he has been the pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles. Please email Fr. Rodel at [email protected].
