To be a servant is an honor

INDEED! To be a servant is a great honor. It is never a

cause of shame or dishonor. It is a very special privilege, in fact.

And the simple reason is that to be a servant is to be like Christ who

expressly came to serve and not to be served! (cfr Mt 20,28) There can

be no better dignity than that.

            That is why many saints and great men and women through

the centuries took pride in being regarded as servants. And the Pope

as Supreme Pontiff also describes himself as Servant of Servants.

            This is a truth of faith that we have to feel most at home

with. We, all of us, are called to be servants, because if Christ is

the “way, the truth, and the life” for us, then we have to assume his

attitude of serving and avoiding of being served by others. That is

what is proper to us. We therefore need to make some drastic

adjustments in our understanding and attitude toward servanthood.

            Of course, the object of our service is primarily God,

just as Christ served and consummately obeyed the will of his Father

till death. “Not my will but yours be done,” he said. (Lk 22,42) And

he went through all the process of suffering and dying on the cross in

obedience to his Father’s will and for our own salvation.

            And then, secondarily and as an organic consequence of the

primary object, all the others, including those who give trouble to

us. We have to have a universal scope in our eagerness to serve. We

should not discriminate against anyone. We have to serve all as they

need to be served, that is, the way Christ served everyone.

            We have to learn the art of serving which will require of

us complete self-forgetfulness, rejecting all the rights that we have,

something that definitely will require supernatural grace for us to

live by it, and simply assuming all the duties and responsibilities

toward God and everybody else.

            The standard is Christ’s way of serving all of us, which

ultimately took the form of giving his life as a ransom for many. (cfr

Mk 10,45) We have to start widening and loosening our very restrictive

human concept of serving others.

            Do we always think of the others? Do we take the

initiative to find ways to help and serve them in some way? Do we

readily empathize with them in their difficulties and misfortunes? Are

we willing to make sacrifices for them, willing to part some money,

comfort, even our reputation just to help them? Are we convinced that

by doing so, we truly become like Christ? Do we experience a sense of

fulfilment when doing so?

            Everyday we should be able to serve others in many ways

from the moment we wake up till the time we drop to rest at night. It

should start with prayers and some sacrifices. And then all throughout

the day, in the different situations we find ourselves in, we should

nourish this eagerness to serve others.

            Are we aware that by serving others the way Christ

continues to serve us, we are helping in the ongoing work of man’s

salvation? We should never forget this redemptive character of

service. It is what would give meaning to it and motivate us to give

ourselves to God and others completely.