MERELY SERVANTS

PRAYER MOMENT

Tuesday 12 November 2013

MERELY SERVANTS

Pause.  Come into the presence of the Lord

Reading. “When you have done all you have been told to do, say; ‘we are merely servants: we have done no more than our duty.’” (Luke 17:7-10)

Reflection. Looking back we can see mistakes made in the history of our country, in the story of the Church and in our own lives. If such and such a decision had only been made we would have been so much better off now. There is an article in a recent number of The Tablet about Bishop Dowling of Rustenberg, South Africa, describing his sustained effort over more than twenty years to respond to the AIDS/HIV scourge and to struggle with the other challenges facing his country today.  He is an example for me of someone who lives that saying “we are only servants.” We are asked to do the best we can. That is all we can do. We cannot solve all the problems. At the end of the day we may have little to show for our efforts. But we are “merely servants”. The issues are far bigger than we are. We just make our contribution with joy and faith. And our little efforts, our five loaves and two fish, really count.

Prayer. Lord, “let me not see the distant shore, one step enough for me,” as Cardinal Newman prayed. Let me really do what I can in my small circumstances and leave the rest to you. Amen.