Our gospel passage today makes a clear and somewhat disturbing point: when we do what God asks us to do, we should say simply: “We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do!”
Something inside of us rebels at such a display of “humility.” After all - we may have taken a lot of our time to do this project; we may have put a lot of planning in to it; we may have put a lot of energy into executing the plan; we may have had to deal with all kinds of friendly and not so friendly people to see that the project was finished; we may even have had to put our lives at stake in some cases!
This may appear to have been the case. But when we look at the real dynamics of what was going on a very different picture emerges. For in reality: the idea came from God; it was his project from the start; the time he gave us to work on it was his gift; that he chose us at all to have anything to do with it was again his gift; any planning we could have done was only using the intelligence that he gave us; and as far as dealing with all kinds of people - should we be any different than he is in dealing with a great variety of friendly and hostile persons; and should we be any different than Jesus, who in finishing the project that God gave him to do - laid down his very life for the completion of the greatest project ever conceived!
Any and all human beings - including Jesus - have but one mission in life - which is the point of the gospel passage: to simply, and humbly and enthusiastically, albeit quietly, do the will of God! And then when it is finished: to simply, humbly and quietly walk away taking absolutely no credit for any part of the finished project - giving all praise and glory to God who conceived the project and brought to completion using us as his instruments!
In the emptiness of our humility, we will one day receive our full and due reward at the resurrection of the dead! Everyone will know of our efforts to cooperate with God! But - we shall have taken our rightful place - as a productive “slave” - who is now transformed fully into a friend and son / daughter of God.
Frances Xavier Cabrini, today’s saint was one such worker in God’s vineyard. She simply did what she felt God was calling her to do! She entered religious life to do God’s work! She humbly accepted God’s help! And she took no credit for anything that was accomplished - and look what God did using her: at the turn of the last century she was sent from Italy to America by Pope Leo XIII to assist Italian immigrants. She ended up founding schools, hospitals and orphanages in this “strange land” - especially in New York and Philadelphia. Ultimately her institute ended up founding houses in England, France, Spain and South America, as well as the United States.
May we, like Mother Cabrini, glory in the opportunities God gives us each day to cooperate with his grace without taking any credit! A true instrument in the hands of God can create something that mere human invention would only be a rough draft of!
Let us let God build what he wants using us this day!
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