As a humble servant of Christ, the best moments of my servitude have come when I have sat with individuals who were hurting from life’s challenges. I shared only a few words of encouragement and hope, but most importantly, I sat with them and let them share their fears, anger, despair, and overwhelming thoughts. An open heart of love, sincerity, and care is an attribute given to us by our Heavenly Father.
Now, the humility of servitude does not come unchallenged. Jesus, knowing he would be scrutinized for his disregard for Jewish law by gathering with sinners and by Pharisees, whose insensitive statements and sense of being appalled by his action of dining with them, gives us the best example of perseverance.
Similarly, the portrait by James Tissot, “The Return of the Prodigal Son,” shows a man on his knees, shoeless, seeking consolation and melting in the embrace of a man of stature in a busy public place, with people watching. What a wonderful call from the Lord for us all during Lent: that as we look to offer a sacrifice, we open ourselves to be agents to console the afflicted. No worries of being judged or questioned, just your willingness to open your heart and share it, and remembering the words of the Litany of Humility, “That others may be praised and I go unnoticed, Jesus grant me the grace to desire it.”
