Memory of the Mother of the Lord

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Luke 17,7-10

'Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, "Come and have your meal at once"? Would he not be more likely to say, "Get my supper ready; fasten your belt and wait on me while I eat and drink. You yourself can eat and drink afterwards"? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, "We are useless servants: we have done no more than our duty." '

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Lord speaks to his disciples; he wants to have an intimate dialogue with each one of them, and even with us. He knows his own, one by one; he has called them to follow him and live with him. He knows very well how easy it is to leave room for pride in one's heart and to have a grand self-image, or even to feel good and consider oneself to be the first actor of one's work. And so, he asks them to compare themselves with what servants are called to do. Unlike the master, they are not the first in the house, but precisely the servants. None of us is the master of his or her life; only the Lord is. Life is given to each of us so that we can not only enjoy it, but also spend it for the good of all. We have received much, without deserving it: health, well-being, peace, intelligence, love, faith; we are not owners of all these gifts, but rather guardians and administrators. Even Jesus presented himself as one who serves and not one who must be served. And at the last supper, he showed this unequivocally, assuming the likeness of a slave who washes the feet of his master. Following this example of Jesus, the disciple is called to serve and, like pope Francis has often reminded us: "Those who do not live to serve, do not serve to live." Living with this spirit of service frees us from the prison of selfishness, from the anxiety of accumulating goods and satisfactions for ourselves. The disciples know that they have received everything and they need to give back all to him. And this is the meaning of being unworthy servants. The Lord has chosen us and entrusted us with a task we are called to fulfil not our own fulfilment but rather to serve his dream of love for the world, knowing that we receive all from him and that without him, we are indeed "unworthy" servants, that is, powerless.