“When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do'” (Lk 17:10).
This closing line from our Gospel reading today can be a hard verse to digest at first glance, especially with our track record of slavery in the U.S. We need to remember and recognize that this was a teaching that Jesus shared in a different time period, in a different culture, and in a place far removed from any clear modern context. The master/slave relationship is also a theme that Luke returns to often.
Another important point to touch upon when reading the Gospels is that when Jesus made the statement that, “we are unprofitable servants; we have done what we are obliged to do”, we are not to read this verse in isolation from the full context of Scripture. Jesus himself modeled service at the last supper when he washed his disciples’ feet (cf. Jn 13:1-17). This was the lowest of menial tasks. St Paul wrote to the Galatians informing them that in the Body of Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male nor female (cf. Galatians 3:28). The ultimate point is that God is God and we are not. We all have a part to play in participating in and promoting the kingdom of God by following his lead.
Jesus was most likely speaking here to his apostles, his hand picked twelve. He is reminding them and us that to be his follower is not about pride and prestige, but about serving who God calls us to serve. As a disciple of Jesus, we are not to seek adulation and glory. We are to serve God and one another without hesitation.
We serve God because he is the director and we are the directed. He is the master and we are the servant. He is our Father and we are his children. In aligning ourselves in this way, we also experience the intrinsic joy of following his will because will come to realize that he has our best in mind. As we follow Jesus’ guidance, we grow in relationship with him and our Father, and experience more of the love of the Holy Spirit. As the apostles followed Jesus, there came a point where he said to them that he no longer called them servants but his friends (see John 15:15). That is to be our hope as well.
No task is too menial or beneath us, nor do we need to be concerned about doing big and grandiose things. We just need to be obedient and act as God leads. Each engagement with another we are invited to smile, to hold a door, to respect and appreciate one another, to be patient and present in another’s pain. Instead of becoming impatient and lose our temper, we can breathe and listen with understanding. When occasions arise where we have been hurt, we can forgive. These are opportunities to love.
Pope Leo shared with the newly ordained bishops who had gathered in Rome on September 11, 2025 that, “those whom Jesus calls as disciples and heralds of the Gospel, especially the Twelve, are required to have inner freedom, poverty of spirit, and a willingness to serve that is born of love, in order to embody the very choice of Jesus, who made himself poor to enrich us (cf. 2 Cor 8:9).” Although not apostles or bishops, through small acts of kindness we are called to serve and to love. As St Mother Teresa said, we are to be a pencil in God’s hand. Let us with the lead of God continue to help him to write his love letter to those in our corner of the world.
———————————————————
Photo credit: Blessed to be able to visit with members of and hear Hakuna sing. Hakuna is a young adult Catholic lay movement, a “Eucharistic family” who serve the Church by giving of their time to lead people to Jesus in Eucharistic adoration and song. This was their first appearance in America.
