I was recently blessed with a beautiful experience. I have had a few like it here in Quesnel, probably the most I have ever had as a priest has been here. A lady called me up and asked me to visit a non-Catholic friend who was dying. She said he was a good man and she asked if I could give him the sacraments of the sick. I asked if he had been baptized but she was not sure. I then asked if he wanted to be baptized. She said to bring the stuff and she would ask. She did ask and he did want to be baptized. There was then a series of things that happened. When I arrived, he was not that conscious, but because the friend and parishioner had had the discussion with the family and friend beforehand, we could proceed with Baptism, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick and the Commendation of the Dying. A soul prepared for heaven. I don’t know if you have been with a soul prepared to go to God, loaded down with grace, it is quite an experience and a joy. I am grateful to this parishioner who came not to be served but to serve and bring salvation to her friend. I have had this experience a few times over the last year where people call me for their non-Catholic or fallen away Catholic friend and sure enough another soul is given the graces of salvation. To me, this is the point that Jesus is making to James and John, that they are not here for their self and their glory. It is true that Jesus wants us close to Him but not so we can have power over others. He wants us close so we can be loved and bring that love to others.
We can, of course, take this Gospel as directed to the priests and leadership of the Church and it definitely strongly is because it is written more than once. I am sure God put it in the Bible multiple times to remind leadership of the pitfalls of serving self. However, it, as the whole Bible is, is for all of us as we, too, are called to ministry, each in our own way. We are not here to be served in order to draw close to Father so that we can have a position in the parish and feel valuable and powerful, but to serve and give our lives as a ransom for many.
God gave us such an example of service. We know He came to serve, to be a leader, to be an example, to save. We didn’t see Him ever demand to be served. We might say what about the Commandments, isn’t that God demanding to be served? No, because they are still about our well being and God makes no profit from them being observed or not. Jesus has given us such a model of service, of loving service, that we can follow with grace.
How can we serve? One way that people serve that is often overlooked is by praying. In our Diocese, we are blessed to have the Carmelite monastery where women have dedicated themselves to pray for the Church and our Diocese. In a certain sense, a very real sense, we have many of these souls in our parish that are like the Carmelites, they spend much of their days praying for people, for their children, for their priests, for the Pope’s intentions. These souls, who often feel useless and are often even thought of as useless, are the powerhouse of the Church. Without them I am sure very little would happen in the Church. We should be very grateful for these humble souls that pray and give their lives to intercede for us who are too busy or don’t know how to intercede or don’t believe in the effects of prayers. I think many of us will be shocked to see the effects prayer had on the world.
But what can each of us do to serve and not to be served? This is, of course, something we all need to take to prayer: Lord, what are you calling me to? How can I serve your message of salvation? One way we can serve, and it seems small but it is important, is to show people that you are Catholic and be a good witness. When I was in the seminary I used to wear a bigger cross, not huge, but big enough that people could see it wasn’t jewelry. I had some great chances to witness because of it and was often reminded about my conduct because it was there. This is a small way to serve the people around us. Many people have questions about God that they want answered. In all that we do, we should try to conduct ourselves in a way that is above the mere human experience. When we are playing sports, don’t cheat. If you work for someone, don’t cheat. If you are an employer, don’t cheat your employees. Go above with service in your actions. We are all here to serve God. A good question to ask is how are your actions serving God this day? Our joy will be fuller and our experience of life greater if that is what we aim to do each day. So let us daily ask the Lord: how can I serve you this day?