Service

14 Apr

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Jesus often scandalized His followers because He broke almost all of their conventions. They thought it was important to be powerful, He preached the need to be powerless. They thought money was where it was at. He preached poverty. They thought being served would make someone important. He preached service.

As Jesus turned their world around with words, He did, as well, by example. On Holy Thursday, we celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and many parishes did the mandatum, the washing of the feet, to recreate what Jesus did when He washed the feet of the disciples.

Most assuredly, this was looked upon with horror. Jesus was the teacher and master of them all. He should never have been put into the position of washing feet. Yet Jesus wanted to make a point that service was important. He not only spoke about it, He modeled it by washing their feet. Afterwards, He challenged them to do the same.

That challenge survives to this day: we are called to be people of service as well. We are called to put others above ourselves. We are called to remember that the greatest among us will be the one who serves the most. We can never begin that too soon.

The idea of serving others is reprehensible to many. Yet, once done, a lot of those who abhorred the thought of serving others came to find that they enjoyed it and got something out of it.

There is nothing wrong with feeling joy while serving others. There is nothing wrong with believing that we get more out of serving than those who receive our service. That is the “bonus” that God attaches to service: when we help others, we end up helping ourselves as well.

FAITH ACTION:  Look for opportunities to serve others today and then do it.