Much Will Be Demanded: Responsibility

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

We are told by St. Paul, “For we must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body” (2 Cor. 5:10).

We are also told in another place, “Everyone to whom much is given, of him much will be required, and of him to whom men commit much, they will demand the more” (Luke 12:48).

Our Lord speaks about our responsibility for the graces that we have received. After Our Lord had warned His disciples of the need to be vigilant, Peter asked if this teaching applied to them as His closest followers or to everyone (Luke 12:39-48).

Then Our Lord proceeded to emphasize the unpredictability of the time when God will finally call us to give an account of our stewardship. Christ could come in the second watch, or in the third, or at any hour.

Our Lord answers Peter's main question by making it clear that His teaching applies to all without exception. God will judge each one personally according to our circumstances and according to the graces that we have received.

Each of us has a mission to fulfill on this earth. We have to be faithful to this vocation to the end of our lives.

We will be judged according to the fruits that our efforts have borne. St. Paul explained this idea to the early Christians by saying, “For we must appear before the judgment seat of [Christ], so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body (2 Cor. 5:10).

Our Lord concludes His teaching with the consideration: “Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required; and of him to whom men commit much they will demand the more” (Luke 12:48).

How much has the Lord entrusted to us? We have to ask. How many graces has He conferred on others as a result of our lives? How many people are depending on my own correspondence to grace?

This Gospel passage is a clarion call reminding us of our responsibility with regard to our specific vocation.

Each man and each woman serves like soldiers commissioned by God to guard a part of His fortress of the universe. Some soldiers are stationed on the walls, others in the interior of the castle.

Everyone needs to be faithful to his duty and assignment. No one can abandon their post. If this were to happen, then the fortress would be exposed to the assaults of hell.

A responsible Christian can't be allowed to allow his dedication to be diminished through a series of false senses of humility.

While the believer is generally reassured by the logic of God's almighty power, he might become unduly discouraged at the evidences of the weakness of human nature. Yet God will repeatedly grant the grace to make even defeat turn into victory. In sum, God will never give up on us.

In The Way, it says, “Among those around you—apostolic soul—you are the stone fallen into the lake. With your word and example, you produce the first ripple, and this will produce another, and then another, and another, each time wider. Now do you understand the greatness of your mission?" (Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, Point 831).

Our ability to respond to God is a sign of our human dignity. St. Thomas Aquinas says only a free agent can choose to be responsible and elect to do what conforms to the will of God and to his own perfection (Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans).

For the Christian living in the middle of the world, he or she must choose to act responsibly in all areas of daily work.

There's a story told of a lighthouse keeper who worked on a rocky stretch of coastline and who received his new supply of oil once a month to keep the light burning.

Not being far from the shore, he had frequent guests. One night a woman from the village begged for some oil to keep her family warm. Another time a father asked for some to use in his lamp. Another needed some to lubricate a wheel. Since all the requests seemed legitimate, the lighthouse keeper tried to please everyone and granted them all.

Towards the end of the month, he noticed that the supply of oil was very low. Soon it was gone, and the beacon light went out. That night several ships were wrecked, and many lives were lost.

When the authorities investigated, the man was very repentant. To his excuses and pleading, their reply was, ‘You were given the oil for one purpose: to keep that light burning.’

This story can remind us of the importance of fulfilling our duty, responsibility first and foremost, to fulfill the task that has been given to us, to give good professional service, to be competent, to know our job, to study whatever may be necessary, to have a lot of rectitude and intention.

Our work should be ordered to the glory of God, to the service of charity, to the fulfillment of family obligations. It also provides a vital area for our personal apostolate.

Pope John Paul I liked to talk of a story about Italian teachers, how “behind them are classic examples of exemplary attachment and dedication to the school.”

Giosué Carducci, he says, was a professor at Bologna University. He went to Florence to attend certain celebrations.

One evening he was taking leave of the Minister of Education. The minister said, ‘No, stay. Tomorrow too.’

‘I can't, Your Excellency. Tomorrow,’ he said, ‘I have a lecture at the university and the students are waiting for me.’

The Minister for Education said, ‘I dispense you.’

The professor said, ‘You may dispense me. But I don't.’

Professor Carducci had a really high sense both of the school and of his pupils. He was of the race of those who say, ‘To teach John Latin, it is not enough to know Latin—one must also know and love John’. And also: ‘The value of the lesson depends on the preparation’ (John Paul I, Angelus, September 17, 1978).

This was a man who was deeply in love with his work. There may be many times when we ought to say to ourselves, ‘I don't dispense myself’ even when circumstances may offer us a way out.

A Christian with this sense of responsibility will endeavor to study as well as he possibly can and then perform to high standards in his place of work.

This approach to work will yield as a bonus the valuable asset of professional prestige. This goal holds true for all kinds of professions: for the mother of a family, for the university professor, for the office worker, for the businessman.

Whenever our will weakens in our ordinary work, we could recall Point 781 of the Furrow of St. Josemaría. He says: “Study, work, is an essential part of my way. If I were discredited professionally as a consequence of my laziness it would make my work as a Christian useless or impossible.

“To attract and to help others, I need the influence of my professional reputation, and that’s what God wants. —Never doubt that if you abandon your task, you are going away from God’s plans and leading others away from them!”

“Everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required." We could think for a moment and give thanks for the of the countless graces that we have received during our life: our Christian education, our formation, so many things.

We're aware of many of these graces. But many of them also are unknown to us. Each one of us has their hands full of graces: happiness, friendships, small but continual acts of service done for our benefit.

We could think whether our life is a generous response to all the good things God has granted us.

In Scripture, Our Lord. tells the story of the irresponsible servant. The servant excuses his behavior with the explanation, “My master is delayed in coming” (Matt. 24:48).

But Our Lord has already arrived. He's in our midst every single day. We should look to Him as a son in the presence of his Father, as a friend who stands facing his greatest Friend.

And when, sooner or later we're called to give an account of our stewardship in this life, hopefully we'll see our Friend smile. We will join that long line of those who are drawn near to Him.

We will understand that in our actions we are like a stone fallen into the lake. Our dedication to our daily duties, to prayer, and apostolate all have a wonderful and incalculable impact on our surroundings.

Our Lord says to His disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father” (John 14:12).

St. Augustine has commented, “He who believes in me will not be greater than I am. Rather, I will do great things through him. I will do even more by means of those who believe in me than I am doing now by myself” (St. Augustine, Commentary on St. John’s Gospel).

Our Lord has worked many marvels through the medium of our lives when we have let Him. His greatest works “consist in giving divine life to men through the action of the Holy Spirit. Then they will realize their adoption as children of God.

“Our Lord said, ‘I am going to the Father’ (John 14:28). But the departure of Jesus does not interrupt the salvation of the world. It actually serves to ensure the growth and expansion of the Church.

“It does not lead to separation from his disciples but to a different kind of presence among them. Their unity with Christ glorified enabled the disciples to do the kind of great works that reunite all men with the Father.

“Jesus counts on us to help him complete his work. He works through us if only we would let him do so” (Chiara Lubich, Words which give life).

We could have a great sense of responsibility for our own holiness. Thankfully we may feel the responsibility of the freedom that Our Lord has given us by allowing us to cooperate with His grace.

St. Paul says, “We exhort you brethren, lest you receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Cor. 6:1). We can have a great joy that Our Lord wants to count on us.

We are told in St. John, “If you knew the gift of God...” (John 4:10). Our Lord will make us saints if we want.

The confidence that God has placed on our correspondence can spur us on to a great sense of responsibility. “Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business? (Luke 2:49).

The confidence that the Father has placed on our personal correspondence; the credit that is given makes us debtors, those “to whom much has been given, much will be expected” (Luke 12:48). These words have to haunt us to go the extra mile, to examine our conscience, and to look particularly at our omissions.

Possibly the greatest sins that we commit in our life are sins of omission: the things we could have done but didn't do, the virtues we should have acquired but didn't acquire.

We have to try and show with deeds this sense of responsibility. We have to try not just to do, but to love, which means to outdo ourselves in duty and in sacrifice.

We have to try and have a sense of responsibility in the position that we occupy in relation to our personal holiness, and in doing an effective apostolate as a professional person, as a mother or father of a family, as a student.

In The Way, Point 755, St, Josemaría says, “Many great things depend—don’t forget it—on whether you and I live our lives as God wants.”

That responsibility we have to bring that grain of sand, to reach out to this particular friend, to approach somebody else to invite them to a retreat or a recollection, or to talk to them about the direction in which their life is going.

These may be very small seeds, but it might be the Will of God that great things are going to come from those small seeds.

St. Paul says to the Corinthians, “Do you not realize that only a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?” (1 Cor. 5:6).

That initiative and responsibility to have an influence in society, to write a letter to the newspaper, to call that radio program., to attend that parents’ meeting in the school, to influence the laws of our country in relation to marriage or education—all of these can have enormous consequences.

Likewise, the lack of responsibility to do certain things, to think that everybody else is going to do something, or ‘it's not my job’, ‘it's somebody else's role,’ or ‘there's no possibility of success’—all these things may lead to Our Lord having a lot to say to us on the Last Day.

In The Way, Point 942, St. Josemaría says, “You are carrying out an imperative command of Christ.”

We're not just doing a nice thing or having a nice influence; we're involved in much greater things.

St. Paul was referring to this sense of responsibility when he said, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:16).

In The Way, Point 82, St. Josemaría says to reach the goal, one must employ the means: first, the supernatural means, and then all the natural ones.

Part of our responsibility means employing the means. Only that way are we effective.

With the miraculous catch of fish, they had to lower the net. They had to use the human means that were there at their disposal for the great miracle to take place.

Together with responsibility, there is freedom. The two are inseparable. We're all accountable for our decisions.

St. Josemaría says, “A person who does not choose, with complete freedom, an upright code of conduct, sooner or later ends up being manipulated by others. He will lead a lazy, parasitic existence, at the mercy of what others decide. They will let themselves be blown to and fro by any wind whatever, and it will always be others who make up their mind for them” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God, Point 29).

One of the consequences of this is that we should educate ourselves in freedom. This means that we seek and get to know the truth—by studying and making good use of time, by making it our business to have a well-rounded education, human, professional, doctrinal, spiritual. It means that we seek the need to seek sound advice in those areas that we may not know in depth, especially as regards doctrine and spiritual matters; that we learn to be more responsible with the passage of time. We come to know the meaning of sacrifice and service to others, and of high ideals.

As children grow through their teenage years, parents need to loosen the grip a little bit. Give them their freedom. Let them make mistakes. Give them their freedom, but ask them to account for that freedom; to be responsible.

We hear a lot about freedom in the world today. We don't hear so much about responsibility.

This respect for freedom means we respect the opinions of other people including our children, and value them. We may not always be right. From this we see the importance of teamwork.

We also have to strive to win moral freedom. This involves developing all the natural and supernatural virtues.

Chiara Lubich said, “When God came to the earth for the first time, He sent the angel Gabriel to ask the permission of Our Lady, a creature like us. Mary believed. She gave her complete assent to the plans of the Father. What was the fruit of her faith? Through her ‘yes,’ the Word became flesh in her womb. She therefore made possible the salvation of all mankind” (Chiara Lubich, Words which give life).

For most people, growth in the virtues occurs when they take on some responsibility. They get married and even more they have children; and those responsibilities force them to acquire and act on many of the virtues. They may be forced to forego many pleasures and practice temperance. They may have to do many difficult things. They need a lot of fortitude to support their family.

On the other hand, if all one does is play all day, you don't have any serious responsibilities and you can lose the virtues.

If somebody retires and they gradually lose the good work habits or virtues they've had, it may become difficult for them after a while to work a full eight-hour day. And we can forget that we had to ramp up to that eight- or ten-hour day when we were younger.

Those habits can be lost. When you're responsible for serious things, you just can't ignore them. You have to put yourself out for them. You may have to shape your life and your behavior around them.

That requires virtuous actions. You may have to do difficult things. You may have to deny yourself many urges. You may have to control your anger.

Some of those serious goods to be achieved, they have to do with ourselves, like our health. We have to diet or exercise. But many of the things are relative to others: family, clients, patients, students.

The best school of virtue can be responsibility for other persons. The most obvious example can be having children. Once parents of a child, they need to respond to his real needs, and that can lead them to many virtuous actions. They also have to give good example and that fosters growth in virtue.

This also happens in professional work. When you're responsible in some way for the good of others—a doctor responsible for the health of others, a policeman responsible for the smooth flowing of traffic, a banker responsible for handling investments which may be for people's retirement, a person repairing, maybe, a fireplace or a heating system, especially in winter, or a person building a ship or a lorry to transport material—if we're not responsible, we can lose our job.

We can also think about how to build up that responsibility in young people. Most families have chores to be done, or schoolwork that has to be done. They’ll be learning instruments of music or something.

It can be good to foster jobs that earn money. Working for someone else who pays you is an excellent way to grow in virtues. Delivering a newspaper, delivering milk. Getting up early, rain or shine, hot or cold. Caddying. Mowing lawns. Working on a farm. Babysitting.

Parents need to think about how their children can have real responsibilities so that they can develop their character. It's good for them to have responsibilities that involve more than themselves.

Mowing the lawn is a gesture that helps the whole family. It's good to have set responsibilities. Giving someone the job of keeping the lawn mowed is better than just telling them to mow the lawn today, because the child has to decide to do it in an ongoing way.

This means that they have to make the choices that are needed to grow in virtue. If that person doesn't live up to their responsibility, it gives the parents an opportunity to talk to them about it.

We could think of the responsibility that Joseph had to take care of the Holy Family and how he responded to that responsibility. He had to think ahead. He had to plan. He had to accept the knocks. He had to solve problems.

St. Josemaría says St. Joseph was “in no way shy or frightened of life. He faced up to difficult situations, dealt with difficult problems, and showed initiative and responsibility in all that he was asked to do (cf. J. Escrivá, Christ Is Passing By, Points 39-40).

We could ask Our Lady that we might be ready for all those demands that may be made on us because of all those great things that God has given to each one of us.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

UI