Thirtieth of Year B - Privileged To Serve
October 2009
I knew a priest in Africa who, remarking on the contrast between how he, and how other people spent their Sundays said; ‘I spend all Sunday morning and afternoon rushing from place to place, saying Mass, hearing confessions, and discussing problems with people and then I arrive back at the mission about six o’ clock and have tea and a sandwich. There must be more to life than that.’
This man retired from the priesthood and is now happily married.
The next time I met him, some years later, was with his wife and two year old son.
It happened to be a Sunday evening. During the hour they stayed, he and his wife spent the whole time (and I mean sixty full minutes) trying to prevent their son from breaking, tearing, pulling down, knocking over or generally dismantling the whole mission house and everything in it.
Despite my anxiety at the depredations of the child I was amused to see that he was now busier and had far less time for other things that was ever the case when he was a priest. But he was fulfilled and happy.
He now felt privileged and honoured to spend every minute of every day in total slavery to the service of this little child.
Feeling privileged or honoured to do a particular job is an amazing thing. We all know such people. We all seek out such people in our need, be it a burst pipe or a rocky marriage. Such people always do the job to the best of their ability. Generally speaking they are not scoffers or cynics and are not usually found disturbing the peace in city centres at 2.30am. on Saturday mornings.
I was saying Mass the other day and reading the first prayer after the consecration its meaning seemed to dawn on me in a new way.
The words are; ‘We thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you.’
In a few seconds many thoughts flasher through my mind - The ex-priest with his son, the cabinet maker I know who almost worships the piece of wood he is working, The farmer and his wife who are never happier than when milking the cows or mucking out after them, the teacher with total dedication to the wellbeing of the pupils, the medic who can treat each patient as a special person, the loyal soldier, the dedicated policeman, the happy housewife, all have something in common. They all feel privileged and thankful for the job they are doing. They feel privileged to serve.
In Mtt. 13 Jesus tells his followers,“ Blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
I long for this attitude of mind and heart.
I long for the sense of being privileged to know God, my father, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
I long for that sense of being honoured to stand in the presence of my God and to serve him.
I too, (like the blind man in today’s gospel), long to see and to follow Jesus along the road.