The Gospel for MONDAY, May 30,2005 (Memorial Day)
Luke 17:1-10
He said to his disciples, ‘Causes of falling are sure to come, but alas for the one through whom they occur! It would be better for such a person to be thrown into the sea with a millstone round the neck than to be the downfall of a single one of these little ones. Keep watch on yourselves! And if he wrongs you seven times a day and seven times comes back to you and says, “I am sorry,” you must forgive him.’ The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase our faith.’ The Lord replied, ‘If you had faith like a mustard seed you could say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it would obey you. ‘Which of you, with a servant ploughing or minding sheep, would say to him when he returned from the fields, “Come and have your meal at once”? Would he not be more likely to say, “Get my supper ready; fasten your belt and wait on me while I eat and drink. You yourself can eat and drink afterwards”? Must he be grateful to the servant for doing what he was told? So with you: when you have done all you have been told to do, say, “We are useless servants: we have done no more than our duty.” ’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1995, c1985
Our Duty
Those of us who have served in the military are silent this day, having known and loved too well our sisters and brothers who never aged.
A Reflection
My head spins when I encounter this text, and I immediately jump into my critic's hat. "Surely Jesus never spoke so much so quickly! Who could remember it?," I mumble to myself. The sayings are all disconnected from each other and their immediate context. Bibles lump them under the heading "Rules of Christian Life." If we can't understand, then we can categorize?
Being God's "little ones" entails the potential for sharing "causes of failing" with other little ones, no matter how hard we try. Doing our duty results only in being able to perform more, and then take only our wages and no more.
But to what else are we entitled? Even the American individualists claim that all they want is a fair day's work for a fair day's pay. And that is essentially what Jesus describes here.
Perhaps the call is one to a greater spiritual sense. We can use our bodies only until the point we use them up. But by listening to what God has to say through our hearts and our minds, we can do good for the other little ones.
A Collect
Father give us grace so to serve others in your Name. Amen
7:51:09 PM 
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