“We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obligated to do.”

Many times we are motived to act by one of two factors.  One motivation is fear of the punishment we will receive if we do not serve or joy of the reward we will receive if we do serve.  Do we do what God asks us because we are afraid of hell, or because we want to go to heaven?  We can also be motivated out of love for the one asking us to do something.  This is the greatest motivation, to act out of love without expectation of any reward.
 
MOVIE – “Shindler’s List”
Shindler is motivated out of love, not out of reward, in fact in the end he says, “he could have done more” and realizes that any material reward or possession that he gained in life could have been used to save more people.
 
What is our motivation?  What if we were told that we would never gain anything in this world for the service that we give Christ and His Church?  Why do we expect a reward?  “Father, your love for us surpasses all our hopes and desires”[i]  Why do we seek a reward when we have the Father’s love.  What could be greater than to be in the constant love of the Father.  For example if I was the personal servant of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, I would be so honored that I was able to work for him that I would not expect a “reward”.  The honor of being the personal assistant to the Pope would be “reward” enough.  We are the “co-workers” of Christ, we are the assistances the servants of the master that title, and that honor is “reward” enough.  We do gain merit or grace for the service we render.  Saint Louis de Montfort in the practice of his devotion to Mary, refused to even keep any merit he earned, instead he gave all merit and grace from his good works to our Lady so that show could give them to those in most need.

“Faith increases in those who are truly humble – who acknowledge that, before the Lord, they ever remain “unprofitable servants.”  Faith increased when we are willing to bear our “share of hardship for the Gospel with strength that comes from God.”[ii]  God is a just God and even though we might be humble and expect no reward at all, He still gives us a reward.  Due to God’s justice and the merit of Christ passion and death we share in the merit of Christ when we unite ourself with Him and are co-workers with Him.  We get merit, the question is what does that merit mean to us, what do we do with it.  Saint Louis de Montfort suggests that we go so far, be so virtuous as to hand over any merit gained,  keeping it no for our self but handing the merit to our Lady so that she may distribute it for the good of the Church.

“By this devotion we place our merits in the hands of our Lady: but only that she may preserve, increase and embellish them. Strictly speaking, merit for increase of grace and glory cannot be handed over to any other person. But we do give her all the value of our prayers and good works, inasmuch as they have intercessory merit, and value for the atonement of sins. We give her our spiritual merits, that she might distribute and apply them according to the greatest needs of the Church, and to the greatest glory of God. If, after having thus consecrated ourselves to our Lady, we wish to rescue a sinner, or to assist a friend by prayer, or to help a soul in purgatory by giving an alms, or by performing an act of self-sacrifice, we must humbly request it of our Lady, abiding always by her decision: which of course remains unknown to us. We can be sure that the value of our actions will be dispensed by her in the most productive possible way. This is certain, because now even the graces of God himself are being distributed through her. She cannot fail to apply our humble merits for his greatest glory and in accordance with his most perfect will. We ourselves could never act with such merciful wisdom as the Mother of the Church, who is at every moment the mediatrix of graces. Moreover, she intercedes constantly before God to obtain forgiveness and mercy for her children, and for all mankind.” [iii]
 
There is no greater way to live out the Gospel than to do the work of God with humility and obedience, expecting no gain.  When any gain or merit is given, we simply give it back to the Church, whom we first served.  It is even better to give the merit to the Mother of the Church, Mary so that she can distribute it to those children in most need.  There is no difference in those that serve the community, expecting nothing for their service.  When they are rewarded expectantly, they simple give back to the community, perhaps giving the money to the mayor or a civic group so they can distribute the money as they see fit.
 
“Whenever someone says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not merely human?  What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul? Ministers through whom you became believers, just as the Lord assigned each one.   I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth.  Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth.  The one who plants and the one who waters are equal, and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor.  For we are God's co-workers; you are God's field, God's building.  According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. [iv]
 
Internal and external difficulties must not make us pessimistic or inactive.  What counts, here as in every area of Christian life, is the confidence that comes from faith, from the certainty that it is not we who are the principal agents of the Church’s mission, but Jesus Christ and his Spirit.  We are only co-workers, and when we have done all we can, we must say: “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.” [v] 
 
We are in a unique but also difficult role.  Jesus has entrusted the means of salvation to the Church, the Church made up of humans.  He has asked us to be His co-workers.  We remember working in groups during school, it is as if Jesus has asked us to be in His group.  Many times the tendency in group work is for one person to take over and do the work of the others.  We can easily slip into the “group work” mentality when it comes to our mission in the Church.  We forget that Christ is the head and we are the body and that the body can do nothing without the head.  We lose humility and forget that we are called and have the honor of working with Christ.  We see working for Christ not as an honor, but rather can begin to see it as a right or maybe even as a burden.
 
What are some difficulties of accomplishing the mission of Christ and His Church?[vi] There is a lack of fervor of zeal; there is fatigue; there is disenchantment; there is compromise; Lack of interest; Lack of joy and hope.
 
If people witness these attributes they are not going to be interested in the mission of Christ and His Church.  Who would want to join a group of workers or a sports team that lack fervor, are tired, disenchanted, compromise the truth and integrity, lack interest in what they are doing and have no joy or hope.  It is no wonder that “the harvest is plenty but the workers are few” [vii] 
 
How can we become more excited about the mission of Christ and His Church?  How can we overcome these difficulties? We can first realize that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” [viii] and I can do nothing without Christ.
 
See also Link to Liturgy Lessons:
Lesson - Faith Shaken 
Lesson - Faith without Benefits 
Lesson - Faith: Words and Works

Many people pursue a job because they see joy, zeal, excitement in the workers which could be their future co-workers.  Those that are drawn to the mission of the Church are draw because they see qualities opposite of difficulties listed above.  They see a person working for the Church that is on fire with zeal, tireless in their work for Christ, enchanted, excited, willing to be unwavering with the truth, intrigued with their work and full of joy in what they are doing and hope in what they will do.  The mission of Christ and His Church is for all the faithful, not just those hired by the Church or those in the clergy of religious life.   Give an example of a person in your life that lived the mission of Christ and His Church witnessing the attributes above.  How did their mission their vocation help you grown in faith?
 
What are some of the obstacles to accomplishing the mission of Christ and His Church?[ix]
Past and present divisions among Christians.  De-Christianization within Christian countries.  The decrease of vocations to the apostolate [x].  The counter-witness of believers and Christian communities failing to follow the model of Christ in their lives.  There is widespread indifferentism based on incorrect theological perspectives and is characterized by a religious relativism which leads to the belief that “one religion is as good as another.” 
 
Give examples of these five obstacles and why they go against the mission of Christ and His Church.  The last obstacle is one of the greatest.  If one religion is just as good as another there is no motivation to spread the Catholic faith, if every religion is equal, then in a sense everyone has what they need and there is no need for evangelization.  In the world there will always be physical poverty, we will never say that everyone has what they need.  Because of this “need” this “poverty” we are compelled and motivated to give to the poor to show concern for the poor and even some people will not rest until there is no poverty.  Just as there is natural poverty there is also a deep spiritual poverty.  Are we compelled and motivated to give Jesus Christ and His Church to nourish those in spiritual starvation?
 
Why do you think that even though there are many obstacles and difficulties to accomplishing the mission of Christ and His Church, the Church continues to grow?  “Catholics increased to nearly 1.12 billion at the end of 2005, an increase of 1.5 percent from the previous year.  The Catholic growth rate was slightly higher than the rate of overall population increase, which was 1.2 percent. Catholics now represent 17.2 percent of the global population, the Vatican said.” [xi]  The Church grows because of Christ and because the truth always prevails, light always overcomes the darkness.  The Church grows now for the same reason it grew after Jesus death.  The Pharisees wanted to kill the apostles and thus weed out Christianity.  “But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, held in honor by all the people, stood up and ordered the men to be put outside for a while.  And he said to them, ‘Men of Israel, take care what you do with these men…keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.  You might even be found opposing God!” [xii]  If the “work” we do for Christ and His Church is a “undertaking of men” it will fail; but if it is of God it will not be overthrown.
 

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[i] Opening Prayer in this Link to Liturgy packet
[ii] Magnificat, Vol. 12, No. 8
[iii] Saint Louis De Montfort, The Perfect Practice of True Devotion to Mary, section 31
[iv] 1 Corinthians 3:4-11
[v] Pope John Paul the Great, Redemptoris Missio, 36.3
[vi] Pope John Paul the Great, Redemptoris Missio, 36.1
[vii] Matthew 9:37
[viii] Philippians 4:13
[ix] Pope John Paul the Great, Redemptoris Missio, 36.1
[x] APOSTOLATE – The activity of the Christian which fulfills the apostolic nature of the whole Church by working to extend the reign of Christ to the entire world.
[xi] Catholic.org
[xii] Acts 5: 33-35; 38-39