Called to Serve:
In an era of Catholicism in which catchphrases such as “called to serve” have been overused to the point of becoming clichés, we risk forgetting how central service is to the Christian life. The minutes of our lives are consumed in an incessant cascade of apparently important and urgent things to do. Sometimes, however, in the midst of all this we actually miss any number of opportunities to serve. Called to serve, yes, but we miss the call! And our service gets sidelined. If service to our brothers and sisters is not an ordinary element of our daily lives as a Christian, we can be sure that we have succumbed to self-deception or taken a critically wrong turn somewhere.
We are called to give ourselves unreservedly to others as a continuation of Christ. For truly, if our Christian service is not an extension of Jesus’ love, if we are not giving Him to others, if those whom we serve are not discovering Him in us, then our service is simply not service. It might be philanthropy, it might be empathy, but it falls short of genuine Christian service. If those whom we serve do not discover Christ in us we have fallen short of our objective. Jesus must become more in us, so that our brothers and sisters are not cheated out of encountering that Christ whom they secretly long to discover in each of us.
What does Christian Service look like? Think of it this way:
Do I strive, in carrying out the ordinary service required by my state in life, to do so with extraordinary deliberateness and full, conscious self-giving?
What opportunities for service exist at St. William? Follow this link to find out.
Closing in Prayer: Father, you call me to serve, and I know that service also means suffering at times. If suffering is to be a part of your plan for me, give me the grace to collaborate with Christ your Son in the salvation of souls by offering that suffering generously to you. I ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
