To watch Fr. Joe’s homily from the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time: CLICK HERE!
I would think that most of us think of ourselves as not having servants. But the truth is we have lots of servants: the cashier at the grocery store, the worker who picked the fruit you bought, the truck driver who delivers that package to our home, the person who delivers our newspaper, our mail, the person who unlocked the door to the church, the person who cleaned the church, the person who takes time – directly or indirectly to do any number of things or meet those many requests.
And just maybe we might be thinking that I serve the needs of others also – at home, at work, etc…
And yes there are times when we serve and times when we are served.
This weekend, Jesus the Humble Servant would have us center in on the opportunities that are part of our lives daily to be servant to one another and to others without counting the cost.
There is no doubt that the Disciples of Jesus loved Him! But they did not understand Him. His way of thinking was just too different. So when the words of Jesus were not enough, Jesus put his arms around a child.
Jesus showed in action who was important. In this case, a child. But the child represents us and all people.
We are loved by our God. All people are loved by God, not because we are important, not because we have potential… we are loved period!
The mission, the job if you will, of the Disciples was not to perform mighty deeds, but to share the love of God.
Put another way, Jesus picking up the child was a living teaching that loving others is the greatest service we can share with people. May the Eucharist we share in today and every week be that constant reminder from our God that we are loved by God and called to live lives of humble service and love with others this day and every day.23