The attitude of a servant

November 12, 2019
Tuesday, 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
ST. JOSAPHAT
1st Reading: Wis 2:23–3:9
Gospel: Luke 17:7-10

Jesus said to his disciples, “Who among you would say to yourservant coming in from the fields after plowing or tending sheep:‘Come at once and sit down at table’? No, you tell him: ‘Prepare mydinner. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink; youcan eat and drink afterwards.’ Do you thank this servant for doingwhat you commanded? So for you. When you have done all that you havebeen told to do, you must say: ‘We are no more than servants; we haveonly done our duty.’”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE(Daily Gospel in
the Assimilated Life Experience)
While a thunderous applause coming from the audience may be a fair indicator of the efficiency of one’s public performance, the same cannot be used to gage the quality of one’s life. Those who only perform for public approval are victims of one’s own self-centeredness. The streaks emanating from the spotlight become the prison bars that incarcerate them for life.
The right thing to do is perform well because we are called to be perfect just as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matt. 5:48). When applauded be grateful, when unrecognized be faithful.
Welcome to the land of the free! Public approval is not evil per se. It becomes morally harmful when it constitutes the end-all of one’s behavior. Moreover, doing good to obtain the approval of others is like selling one’s good deeds for a pittance.
How much can one really profit from peoples approval? At most he gets famous. But given the peoples’ shortness of memory, fame fades the soonest he is out of sight. When the spotlight is off he appears his real self – nothing but a pixel of darkness. Any advantage one gets from public approval fails in comparison with the returns obtained from the God who rewards the good things that people do in secret (Matt. 6:4).
It can also happen that while performing for God the heart remains impure. Admittedly there are people who behave like God owes them when they behave well. When adversities come they send God the bill. When God fails to compensate they get back at him by distancing themselves from Church activities. By punishing God this way, they are punishing themselves. God will still remain God even without them. On the other hand without God they are nothing.
Life is too sacred to be reduced to a stage play where efficiency is measured by how thunderous the applause performers get. “When you have done all that you have been told to do,” he said, “you must say ‘we are no more than servants; we have only done our duty.’” – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., J.D., D.M.