Luke 17:7-10
Jesus said to the apostles: "Who among you would say
to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field,
´Come here at once and take your place at the table´? Would you not rather say
to him, ´Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and
drink; later you may eat and drink´? Do you thank the slave for doing what was
commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do,
say, ´We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have
done!´"
* * *
Introductory Prayer: Jesus, I believe in you, my Lord and my
Creator! You have given me everything, and you owe me nothing. You have
forgiven me everything when I owed you more than I could ever pay. I trust in
your forgiveness and love, Lord.
Petition: Jesus,
help me to be grateful to you.
1. Proud
Attitudes: How often are we offended by how others
treat us, by a lack of gratitude, respect or appreciation? However justified
the reactions of our sensitivity, what lies at the root of our complaints is
pride. Looking out from my own broken creaturely condition, I can’t help but
see myself for more than I am and expect more respect from everyone – including
God. Yet, before God I am but a poor, tiny and dependent creature. From him I
receive all that I am and need. How can I demand anything from him? Even worse,
how can I complain when I recognize that I am an ungrateful sinner who has
denied the rights and love of my Creator?
2. The
Fundamental Relationship: Our culture has become one of
“entitlement.” We view ourselves as having rights – “just” expectations –, and
we expect that much is owed to us. Thus we see children demanding what they
want, spouses expecting their preferences to be respected, and the belief that
government must provide us with everything. God gets thrown into the fray as
well, so that he, too, must deliver according to our attitude of spoiled
children. What we forget is that we have received everything from God and we
owe him everything. Jesus’ image of the slave and master is not just a
metaphor. Although his free and generous gift of redemption raises us up to the
level of children and friends, he owes us nothing. Our fundamental relationship
with God must be that of a grateful creature with a loving creator. We must
start there.
3. Humble
Attitudes: Far from asking us to act as “worthless
slaves,” Jesus wants to free us from the pride that enslaves. The virtues of
service, gratitude, honor and obedience may not be popular today, but they
forever reflect the heart of a child of God. Jesus embraced all these virtues
and the attitudes of humility that they require. My first duty in life is to
serve and obey God. My duty of gratitude can never be exhausted, for he gives
me so many gifts – life, faith, family, etc. –, and he leads me to a love that
is self-giving rather than demanding my rights before God and others.
Conversation
with Christ
Conversation with Christ: Dear Lord Jesus, help me to embrace my condition
as creature with humble simplicity. Open my mind and heart to the many endless
expressions of your generous love. Teach me a gratitude that thinks more of you
than of me.
Resolution: I will pray for
the grace to show gratitude to God in my daily activities, striving to make
these acts of gratitude occur.