“The Son of
Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for
many.” We hear Jesus give this
declaration at the end of today’s Gospel, and we think about how we can be
servants as well on our own journeys of faith.
Jesus calls us to this very unique path, a path that we must take very
seriously.
Recently, I
came across a quote from Origen, one of the early Church fathers who lived in
Alexandria, Egypt in the 3rd century. Origen writes: "Those who pray as well
as work at the tasks they have to do, and combine their prayer with suitable
activity, will be praying always. That
is the only way in which it is possible never to stop praying."
I connect
what Jesus is saying – of being a servant rather wanting to be served ourselves
– to what Origen is saying – of how we are to turn our lives into a constant
prayer, of prayers that we not only recite to God, but also that prayers that
turn into our thoughts, our work, and our actions for the day.
All of us
living here in the United States can often take our faith for granted. We think that we will always have the freedom
and liberty to practice our faith. Yet,
if we look throughout history, this is not always the case. Today, February 27, is the anniversary of the
death of St Anne Line, a young woman who died for her faith in England way back
in the year 1601. At the time in
England, it was unlawful to live out the Catholic faith, as it was unlawful for
a priest to celebrate mass. Anne hid
several priests in her home in order for them to be able to celebrate
mass. For this act, St Anne Line was
arrested by the governmental authorities and was quickly put to death by
hanging. When asked if she was
repentant, she said she wished that she had been able to help out a thousand
priests.
These
messages that we hear today speak to us during this holy season of Lent. May we truly live out of faith in our daily
lives, making our lives a living prayer.
And may we truly be the servants that Jesus calls us to be.
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