Wednesday, November 5

Acts 20:  Paul speaks, “I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing. You know for yourselves that I worked with my own hands to support myself and my companions.  In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Reflection:

Part of what has become known as “The Prayer of St. Francis” says,

O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

St. Francis takes Paul’s words about Jesus one step further. Not only is it more blessed to give than to receive but IN GIVING, WE RECEIVE. The beauty of service is that it is, most clearly, a two-way street. When we serve, we often experience that we ourselves are served. Such is the nature of caring, of love, of compassion. When we allow ourselves to be used as instruments in God’s hand, we realize that God moves through and from us while also moving toward and in us.

Questions for reflection:

Think of a time when you thought to yourself, “I’m serving here.” What about that specific experience allowed you to value both your serving as well as your being served by another?