October 18, 2015 — Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Is 53: 10-11; Ps 33: 4-5, 18-20, 22: Heb 4: 14-16; Mk 10: 35-45
Are you involved in a parish ministry? If you are not, you should be from a number of perspectives. First of all, in today’s Gospel Jesus tells us, and it is something He wants us to understand and pursue as a goal, “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.” Service, giving of ourselves, is at the focal point of stewardship.
Genuine ministry is done for and offered for the assistance and aid of those to whom one is ministering, not for the advantage of the one who is ministering. When we join a ministry, whether it is liturgical, service, or spiritually-supporting, although we certainly receive advantages from it, the reality is that we should do it because of the lift and help we can give to others. The fundamental aspect is what we give, not what we receive.
Jesus was a man of great humility. It is this humility to which we need to strive. This is not simple in the society in which we live. However, as the noted author and apologist, C.S. Lewis, once said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” That is our tribulation as Christian stewards: to put others before ourselves both in reality and in our hearts. With God all things are possible.
