"We are Unprofitable Servants"?

The Gospel from this past Sunday included the startling words:

"Is [the master] 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 17:9-10)

It sounds at first glance like a raw deal for the servant: he's been working all day, and only gets another job to do when he comes back to his master. But we all know people like this (maybe it's even US on a bad day): they do what they're told, but they don't have the vision to be able to anticipate the master's next desire. They just see the long list of tasks to be accomplished. The problem with this situation -- seeing only the list -- is that it's exhausting and boring to just keep cranking out results ... to keep accomplishing tasks without seeing the overarching reason why we do them.

Sometimes this even affects (gasp!) our faith life. "Go to Mass ... AGAIN?! I just went last week!" Or perhaps, "Prayer?! Jesus already heard from me, like, last month!"  ...  We only see the looooong list of things that we "have to do", and it gets harder and harder to give ourselves over to doing God's work and His will as the list never ends.

 This is where that old word comes up again ... holiness. By our Baptism we received the gift of faith (along with good old hope and love). We are oriented, at the deepest part of our being, toward seeing that vision that God our Father has for the world.  (That's what faith is: seeing as God sees. ... But you knew that already if you heard my homily on Sunday.)  So holiness is the progression and gradual perfection of that gift of faith.  We come to see, more and more, every day, the way that the world is supposed to be, and the way are supposed to live in it. If we do it right, our every action responds to God's desire and His vision that everything be the way He intends it to be, to make this world a better place and prepare us for Heaven.

Isn't that better than just seeing a to-do list?


Image credit: This icon of the Baptism of the Lord -- the model for what it is to see God the Father's holy will and perspective on life -- is from The Icon Reader's Guide, http://iconreader.wordpress.com/2011/01/06/baptism-of-christ-the-theophany-icon .