Gospel:
Matthew 23:1-12
Jesus
spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the
Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and
observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to
carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to
move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their
phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets,
seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation
‘Rabbi.’ As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and
you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father
in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ. The
greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be
humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
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Reflection:
Should we
aspire for greatness in our service for Jesus and our fellowmen? No, because
the moment we aspire for greatness we are not anymore serving Jesus and our
fellowmen. We are rather feeding our own egos and personal agendas.
Many of
us including those who do volunteer work for the church as well as politicians
fail in this aspect of true and humble servanthood. For the reason that instead
of giving true service we accompany it with our own selfish motives.
Why are
we offering our free time to the church? Is it purely to serve, or we have
hidden motives? Same with politicians during campaign they would always offer
themselves as servants, but after they’ve won we could hardly see them anymore.
Jesus is
teaching us that if we truly want to serve we must be ready to forget ourselves
or forget who we are. We walk our talk without complaining whatsoever. We
silently do what we have to do not minding if we would be rewarded for what we
do for this is what servanthood is all about.
Let us
not worry if we are not cited for whatever noble undertaking that we do. God is
not sleeping He sees everything and knows everything. - Marino J. Dasmarinas
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