November 12, 2013
Tuesday, 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
ST. JOSAPHAT
1st Reading: Wis 2:23–3:9
Gospel: Lk 17:7–10
Jesus said to his disciples, “Who among you would say to your servant coming in from the fields after plowing or tending sheep:
‘Come at once and sit down at table’? No, you tell him: ‘Prepare my
dinner. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink; you can eat and drink afterwards.’ Do you thank this servant for doing what you commanded? So for you. When you have done all that you have been told to do, you must say: ‘We are no more than servants; we have only done our duty.’”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
While a thunderous applause may be a fair indicator of the efficiency of one’s public performance, boosts his ego and measures the level of satisfaction of his patrons, the same can be toxic when sought after in the daily grind. Those who only perform for public approval are victims of one’s own self-centeredness. The floodlight becomes their self-imposed prison cell.
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. There are people who behave like God owes them when they behave well such that when adversities come they send God the bill. When God fails to cooperate they get back at him by distancing themselves from Church activities. But by punishing God this way, they are punishing themselves. God will still remain the God even without them. On the other hand without God they ares 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.’” – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: [email protected]. Website: www.frdan.org.
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