To Serve

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’re told in St. Mark, “But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be the slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44).

Christian life consists in imitating Christ. As a disciple before his master, as a child before his mother, so should the Christian be oriented in all of his or her activities before Christ.

The child learns to speak by listening to the mother. He makes an effort to copy her words and mannerisms. And this should be the pattern of our behavior with respect to Jesus. We should imitate His every word and deed.

Christian life consists in the imitation of Christ. “For to this,” says St. Peter, “you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his [steps]” (1 Pet. 2:21).

St. Paul encouraged the first Christians with similar words: “Have this in mind among you,” he says, “which was in Christ Jesus…” (cf. Phil 2:5).

Our Lord is the exemplary cause of all holiness, of all love for God the Father. This is not only because of His deeds, but because of His very being. Christ’s way of acting was an external manifestation of His love for and union with the Father.

We grow in holiness not so much by an external imitation of Jesus as by an internal imitation. St. Paul taught the Colossians, saying, “You have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature” (Col. 3:10).

Through the workings of this daily renewal in our lives, we should weed out whatever does not conform to Christ’s teachings. We want our feelings and attitudes to resemble more and more what those of Jesus would be in similar circumstances. In this way, our life will become a prolongation of Christ’s life.

We have been given a certain series of talents and abilities in order to serve, in order to make a contribution, in order to give.

There was a story told about an earthquake that took place in Mexico City, I think in the 1980s. There was a man there who was of very short stature. But when some of the buildings collapsed, sometimes there were very small holes that people could crawl through.

Because he was so small, he was able to crawl through some of those holes and bring food and liquid and nourishment to people who were trapped inside the buildings. And so, being short of stature became a talent, an ability to give a service that was very crucial to saving the lives of many people.

We all have talents, some of them latent. But hopefully, in the passage of time, we come to develop those talents, or other people help us to develop them or point them out, so that we can learn to serve in different ways and to be effective.

St. Paul says, “For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29). Divine grace acts in concert with our free will to make us like unto God.

We will be saints if God the Father can say these very words of us: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). Our sanctity, therefore, lies in becoming through grace what Christ is by nature: children of God.

The Lord is our all in all. St. Hippolytus said, “This tree is for me a plant of eternal salvation. I am fed by it. It satiates me. Through its roots I am deepened, and through its branches I am extended.

“I rejoice at its dew. Its spirit is like a welcome wind that fertilizes me. I have pitched my tent in its shadow. There, I have escaped the heat of the day and find cool comfort. Its leaves are my covering. Its fruits are my delight. I freely enjoy these fruits, which have been reserved for me from the beginning of time.

“This tree is my food when I am hungry. It provides my clothing when I am naked. Its leaves are the spirit of life. They have nothing to do with the leaves of the fig tree.

“When I fear the Lord, He is my protection. In my weakness, He is my strength. When I do battle, He is my prize. When I triumph, He is my trophy. He is for me the straight and narrow path” (Hippolytus, Easter Homily). I do not want to do anything apart from Him.

All through His life, Our Lord taught us lessons of service.

I heard of a professor one time who went to a university with a Catholic ethos, and he asked students in that university why they were there.

The answers he got were more or less the same: “I’m here to get a good degree so I can get a good job, so I can get a good salary.” And he wasn’t very happy with those answers.

Then he went to a secondary school with a Catholic ethos, and he asked the students in the secondary school why they were in this school. They said, “Well, we’re here so that we get a good mark in our final exam, so we can get into a good university, so we can get a good degree, so we can get a good salary and get a good job.” It was the same answer.

He said these answers represent the failure of Catholic education because the whole purpose of our education and our formation is to serve, because Christ came “not to be served but to serve,” and Jesus helps us put this maxim into practice.

James and John made a memorable request to Our Lord. They wanted to hold places of honor in His kingdom.

Their petition provoked a storm of indignation among the apostles. Jesus took the opportunity to teach the Twelve, saying, “You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be the slave of all” (Mark 10:35-45).

Finally, He gives them the greatest reason by far: “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).

We can ask Our Lord in our prayer today that we might have a deep service orientation in our lives. No matter where we are placed to work, to serve, or to be, we all have to have that service orientation. What can I do for others? How can I forget about myself? How can I develop my talents and abilities with the grace of God to be a more effective server, and to take pride in that service? That is why I have been created. That’s why God has placed me here.

On many occasions Our Lord repeated that “the Son of Man had not come to be served but to serve.” His whole life was a service to others.

Blessed Álvaro del Portillo told us one time how, on one occasion, he was working with St. Josemaría, and St. Josemaría noticed that the glasses of Blessed Álvaro were dirty.

And so, he took them and he cleaned them. This happened a few times. “Then,” Blessed Álvaro said, “I used to not clean my glasses on purpose so that St. Josemaría would take my glasses and clean them.

“Until one day, he said to me, ‘You know it’s lucky for you that I clean your glasses, because if it wasn’t for me, nobody else would do it. But I’m not going to do it anymore.’”

And that was the end of the glass cleaning saga. But it was interesting to see how St. Josemaría seized that small opportunity to perform a small service for other people.

The whole life of Jesus was a service to others. His doctrine is a constant appeal to mankind to forget oneself and live for others. All professional work is a service.

Jesus went through Palestine serving each person that He met along the way, sometimes “imposing his hands on each one of them” St. Luke says (cf. Luke 4:40).

Jesus continues, ready to serve us, to keep us company with His humility and grace, particularly in the Blessed Sacrament.

On the night before His Passion and Death, He emphasized the importance of this message when He washed the feet of His disciples (John 13:3-7).

He urged His closest followers to do the same for their brethren: “What I have done to you, so do you to others” (cf. John 13:14-15).

The Church is the continuation of the salvific mission of Christ in the world, Her very reason for being and serving mankind through the preaching of the Word and the celebration of the sacraments. That’s where Her reason for being lies.

Pope Paul VI, in a document, said, “Sharing the noblest aspirations of men and suffering when she sees them not satisfied, she wishes to help them attain their full flowering, and that is why she offers men what she possesses as her characteristic attribute—a global vision of man and of the human race” (Paul VI, Encyclical, Populorum progressio, Point 13, March 26, 1967).

The Catholic Church is very much in the world with a service orientation: to give formation, to give doctrine, to provide educational and health care services, to bring people up onto a supernatural level, to remind men of their eternal destiny, lest they might forget.

As we seek to imitate Our Lord, we should be ready to give cheerful service to God and to other people without expecting anything in return. We’re called to serve even those who don’t appreciate our help. We can serve people while passing unnoticed, not being thanked, not being appreciated.

Many people might not understand our cheerful attitude of self-denial. But hopefully, they might be brought closer to God through it, by that beautiful example that we have learned from Christ. And we can be content in the knowledge that Christ knows full well the efforts that we’re making on His behalf.

It is interesting to think, for a moment, if you went to a Catholic school or you’ve been through a Catholic hospital—of the people who perhaps put a lot of sacrifice into starting that school, or keeping it going over many decades, with that hospital, or people who are working behind the scenes, to give that witness and service to humanity.

The pride of every Christian is precisely in this dimension: to serve as the Master served. And we learn to serve only when we’re close to Jesus.

We’re told in The Forge, “When you start out each day to work by Christ’s side and to look after all those souls who seek him, remember that there is only one way of doing it: we must turn to the Lord. Only in prayer, and through prayer, do we learn to serve others!” (Josemaría Escrivá, The Forge, Point 72).

Prayer will give us all the strength and humility that we require in order to be able to serve other people.

Our service to God and others should be characterized by our humility. We can think of ourselves, as St. Josemaría preached, like a little donkey that had the honor of carrying Jesus through the streets of Jerusalem in triumph (Andrés Vázquez de Prada, The Founder of Opus Dei, Volume I).

“So they took the colt to Jesus,” we’re told in St. Luke, “and throwing their cloaks on his back, they lifted Jesus onto it” (Luke 19:35).

We have to keep in mind also our rectitude of intention. Cardinal Luciani, later John Paul I, said, “When I am paid a compliment, I must compare myself with the little donkey that carried Christ on Palm Sunday. And I say to myself: If that little creature, hearing the applause of the crowd, had become proud and had begun—jackass that he was—to bow his thanks left and right like a prima donna, how much hilarity he would have aroused! Don’t act in like manner!” (John Paul I [Albino Luciani], Illustrissimi).

We should help others in such a way that they don’t even realize that we’re helping them, if that’s possible. Our only compensation will be the loving glance of Christ. It’s also the highest payment possible.

In the Psalms, we’re told, “Serve the Lord with gladness!” (Ps. 100:2). This ideal should be our guide even in the more unpleasant aspects of daily life. Such sacrifices make social and family life more pleasant.

Christ showed the depth of His love through service. He shows us that “love is deeds, not sweet words” (J. Escrivá, The Forge, Point 498).

“I have given you an example,” He said, “that you may copy what I have done to you” (cf. John 13:15). “The greatest must be the servant of all” (cf. Matt. 23:11).

We could try to have desires to make the whole of our life a service, a constant service to others. The service of our prayer, serving on the Cross, having the concern of the Good Shepherd for all the sheep around us, showing affection through service, always having time for other people, not always being in a rush, giving the service of a smile, of knowing that word or gesture that only people who love know are important. This involves having a habitual disposition to forget yourself.

In The Forge, St. Josemaría says, “When a person really lives charity, there is no time left for self-seeking. There is no room left for pride. We will not find occasion for anything else but service!” (J. Escrivá, The Forge, 683). There is no greater self-mastery than to make oneself a servant, the willing servant of all.

On one occasion, St. Josemaría was on a plane, and there was a lady on the plane who recognized him. She had converted after reading some of his homilies.

She went to him and said, “I want to thank you, Father, because after reading your homilies, I converted to Catholicism.” And he said to her, “My daughter, when you receive a message in an envelope, you read the message and you throw the envelope away. I am just the envelope.”

That’s a very beautiful statement of humility, and also of service. Each one of us are envelopes for our children, for our friends, for our acquaintances, for our colleagues, in the places where we are.

Our Lord wants us to serve in the very place where He has placed us. It’s there that God’s graces will help us to a maximum degree.

That’s why St. Josemaría used to say we have to “passionately love the world” (J. Escrivá, Conversations, Points 113-123): this family, this marriage, this house, this place, this job.

We don’t dream of being holy in some faraway place that maybe doesn’t exist. We’re not here to fill our lives with wishful thinking. We’re here to serve the Lord with joy—and at the same time, be ready to serve somewhere else, if necessary, if suddenly plans change.

To be able to change is also to serve. And sometimes change becomes necessary. We have to move house, or we have to move cities, or we have to move jobs. God is calling us to serve somewhere else.

St. John of the Cross said, “To be prepared to lose and see all others win belongs to valiant souls” (cf. John of the Cross, The Collected Works, Sayings of Light and Love, Point 137).

One of the qualities of such souls is that they will give rather than receive, even until they come to give themselves.

We’re called to serve others as we would like to be served, and to realize also that service alone is not enough.

No husband or wife just wants service. They want love, which often means serving with refinement.

It may be to avoid having too much service. If we have such a great spirit of service that we get on people’s nerves, then maybe it’s too much. We have to try and pass unnoticed.

Little children love to serve. We have to learn how to be like little children. It’s also very formative to give little children the opportunity to serve. Help them to grow in that way, to pass things on the table, to do favors for people, to be available, to have initiative, to be proactive in offering themselves to do little services.

How often we give a great service with our good example. We set a tone, we set the pace for people in the environment where we are.

Christ gave a great example at the Last Supper by washing the feet of the apostles (John 13:1-17).

We serve very much by fulfilling the norms of our plan of life. This allows God and the Word of God to inspire us in a regular way. We try to serve other people not just for our personal interest, but for love of God.

The rich young man in the Gospel was all out for self-development, so much so that Christ loved him. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18).

Christ gives him the way to break out of his imprisonment of the mentality that he had. He’s looking for something that will last. He gives him the commandments. It’s not a matter of giving a day or a week, but of giving your life as a ransom for many.

“But he goes away sad” (Matt. 19:22). He didn’t have a deep spirit of service and wasn’t willing to go the whole hog.

Often, we serve to the extent that we forget ourselves. And this can be the beginning of true happiness.

“Power, like money, is not intrinsically evil. God describes himself as “the Omnipotent’ and Scripture says in the Psalms, ‘Power belongs to God’ (Ps. 62:11).

“But given that man had abused the power granted to him, transforming it into control by the strongest and oppression of the weakest, what did God do? To give us an example, he stripped himself of his omnipotence; from being ‘omnipotent,’ he made himself powerless. He ‘emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant’ (Phil. 2:7). He transformed power into service.

“…And so, a new power is revealed, that of the Cross: ‘God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise,’ we’re told by St. Paul in the First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 1:27).

“In the Magnificat, Mary sings in advance this silent revolution brought by the coming of Christ: ‘He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones’ (Luke 1:52)” (Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, The Great Exercise of Power).

“Jesus said that he could have asked the Father for twelve legions of angels to defeat his enemies who were just about to crucify Him (Matt. 26:53). But he preferred to pray for them. And it was in this way that He achieved victory.

“Service is not always expressed…in silence and submission to power. Sometimes it can impel one to raise one's voice against power and its abuses. This is what Jesus did. In his life he experienced the abuse of the political and religious power of the time. That is why he is close to all those who go through the experience of an evil and tyrannical power in any environment: the family, community, civil society.

“With his help it is possible not ‘to be overcome by evil,’ as he was not—but rather, to ‘overcome evil with good’ (Romans 12:21)” (ibid.).

To serve us, we stand on our pride. The proof that we are really humble is that we forget about ourselves. The ego must go.

We learn to accept humiliations peacefully, to pass unnoticed, to do and disappear, to realize that we solve all our problems by thinking about the others. This spirit leads to a greater unity, leads us away from making complaints.

Rather, we lift up our souls in thanksgiving for all the good things. “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart” (cf. Matt. 11:29).

We practice service by consulting certain expenses, by being happy where we’re placed, by choosing the worst for ourselves, by passing on our talents and abilities to others, training them so that we don’t become indispensable.

We can serve by asking others for their opinion, so that we refine our decisions to make them more effective. We serve by knowing ourselves, as Socrates said, knowing our defects, what our weak points are.

We serve by not looking for any recognition in this life. St. Josemaría in this life had no recognition. He only wanted Jesus to shine.

In the Furrow, St. Josemaría says we can learn from Our Lady how to be helpful to others, how to have an eye for their needs, how to make their lives pleasant on earth, and how to gently point their sights towards Heaven. She gives us the best example:

“In the middle of the rejoicing at the feast in Cana, only Our Lady notices that they are short of wine. A soul will notice even the smallest details of service if, like her, it is alive with a passion for helping its neighbor, for God” (J. Escrivá, Furrow, Point 631).

When we practice this life of service, we will be blessed to find Jesus in our midst. He will tell us: “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of these, the least of my brethren, you did it to me” (cf. Matt. 25:40).

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.

SMF