“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’?
Would he not rather say to him,
‘Prepare something for me to eat.
Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink.
You may eat and drink when I am finished’?
Is he grateful to that servant because he did what was commanded?
So should it be with you.
When you have done all you have been commanded, say,
‘We are unprofitable servants;
we have done what we were obliged to do.’”
(Luke 17:7-10)
“Unprofitable servants” sounds a bit harsh . . . but Jesus is in our midst as “the one who serves” (Lk 22:27) and shows us all how to serve others. Today is the feast of Saint Leo the Great . . . the church is always very reserved about putting “the Great” on any saint. But Saint Leo qualifies as a “servant of the servants of God.” I was grateful to be ordained a priest in the parish of Saint Leo the Great in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
