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Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

 

Today's Gospel: Luke 17:5-10

When Jesus asks his disciples:

“Who among you would say to your servant who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here immediately and take your place at table’?”, 

the first thing I think about is that Jesus has done precisely just that: invited we-who-were-servants to take a place at His Eucharistic table. That's because we are, as He told us, no longer servants but friends (John 15:15). In other words, though we deserve to be treated as He describes a master justly treating his servant in this passage, we are in fact treated far better.

That being so, in today's Gospel we learn what our interior attitude must always be, even when we are elevated to the status of friend, or, as we read in Galatians 4:7, of sons and daughters. While we are invited to adopt an intimacy with the Master far beyond any servant’s imagination, we must also retain the humility of heart to realize that we are but “unprofitable servants.” In other words, sitting at His table is not because we somehow merit it based upon our obedience and faithfulness to Him but sheerly out of His magnanimity to us.

If you are anything like me, when you say the Rosary or do some small penance for someone else, you are tempted by pride. “I’ve come such a long way,” I might think, or a warm sense of self-satisfaction might spread over my soul. Far better for me to remember that any good act, any prayer, any penance I am able to do is entirely the result of His grace. The natural me would serve me and my comfort alone. I must say, whenever I’m tempted by pride, “I am an unprofitable servant; I have done what I was obliged to do.” In this way, I can both sit at His table and remember that it is not on account of myself that I am there.

 

Ponder:

 

Do I combine the intimacy of sitting at the table with the Master with the interior humility of a servant?

 

Pray:

Lord, by Your grace, make me love You all the more for inviting me to sit at Your table and inspire me to marvel at Your goodness and love.

 

Click to tweet:
While we are invited to adopt an intimacy with the Master far beyond any servant’s imagination, we must also retain the humility of heart to realize that we are but “unprofitable servants.” #dailygospel

 

Daily Gospel 4

Copyright 2022 Amanda Woodiel

About the Author

Amanda Woodiel

Amanda Woodiel

Amanda Woodiel is a Catholic convert, a mother to five children ages 14 to 6, a slipshod housekeeper, an enamored wife, and a “good enough” homeschooler who believes that the circumstances of life—both good and bad—are pregnant with grace. Her oldest son was diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 2022, which is providing plenty of opportunities to test that hypothesis.