“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28).
It can be exhausting to be a Christian. After all, we are called to be of service to others, and service does not come naturally to me. It is so much easier to look after only myself. And looking after others does not just involve working around their physical requirements, it involves working around their spiritual and emotional requirements as well. It is perhaps more important at times to pray for another soul as it is to speak to them or cook a meal to assist them. It is perhaps more important to help them in a thankless way – without ever telling them what you are doing – then to let them know that you are involved in some way in their life.
Saint Therese of Lisieux and one of her sisters, prayed in secret for a well-known criminal who was to be executed so that he would have a change of heart and repent prior to his death. And just before he was executed, he called for a priest and confessed his sins. Now, this criminal could potentially have been saved through those prayers of those two young women and he would not even have known their names.
When I was experiencing terrible grief following the death of my little baby before he was even born, my sisters and my father prayed together for me without my even knowing. If it were not for their prayers for me, I would not have experienced my conversion and would have had no chance at trying to redeem my sinful self.
And that is the example of Christ. To see a need and action it – as Saint Mary of the Cross Mackillop said, “Never see a need without doing something about it.”…
“As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late; send them away, to go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’” (Mark 6:34-44).
For Christ does not just bestow His blessings upon us, but He also ask us to pass them on. He does not just want to help one person, but to help the whole world. And that means that He asks me – and He asks you too – to join Him in this mission and to accept the gifts we are given and to pass those gifts on to others.
And when I do this – even though it feels tiring at times – it means that I am able to understand my true purpose – which is to serve. After all, my Master – “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28).
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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