Today’s liturgy is about service. In the opening prayer we ask
for “strength and joy in serving God as followers of
Christ.” The First Reading is from the fourth servant song of
Second Isaiah: the prophet sings of one who “gives his life as
an offering” (First Reading). The Gospel is about disciples who want to be important. Jesus
teaches them this lesson: “whoever wants to rank first among
you must serve the needs of all” (Gospel). In the prayer over the gifts, we ask for the “freedom to
serve you with
Our Lord and Master calls us to be a community of service. Our
strength comes from following in the footsteps of this Master, who
“has not come to be served but to serve.”
What is our service to the world? If all we do is affirm the
world’s wisdom, what kind of service is that? After all, it is
the wisdom of the world that has led us into the dark alleys of
hatred, alienation, and killing. “It cannot be like that with
you.” We must provide an alternative to the wisdom of the
world: that is the greatest service we can offer.
The fundamental moral criterion for all economic decisions, policies, and institutions is this: They must be at the service of all people, especially the poor.
U.S. Bishops, Economic Justice for All, 1986: 24
The process of development and liberation takes concrete shape in the exercise of solidarity, that is to say in the love and service of neighbor, especially of the poorest.
Pope John Paul II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 1987: 46