In Matthew 9:35-38, “Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant but the labourers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out labourers for his harvest.”
There is a lot to be done in the Kingdom of God, yet we have many Catholics who have deep and profound giftings, specific to particular ministries and services in the Church, who instead choose to remain on the sidelines, despite the many invitations by the Lord to come labour in his vineyard. If only they knew the powerful and indescribable things that the Lord God was going to do through them! If only they would say yes to His invitation, and simply show up where the Lord God was directing their paths to. As Christians, we are called and commissioned by the Spirit of the Lord in His anointing to: “bring glad tidings to the poor”, to “proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind”, to “let the oppressed go free”, “and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord,” (cf. Luke 4: 18-19) and the beauty of this commissioning is that we need not go to some exotic faraway shore to do this – although some of us would be eventually led by the Lord’s providence to a distant land, so that we may witness for ourselves the goodness of God, as He ministers to the people through us. We are invited to live out this mission first where we are in this time and place, in our homes and parishes, to our families, and to the neighbours in our vicinity.
There is a Latin phrase that we use in the Church – Serviam. This word means, “I will serve”. This phrase is not found as it is in Scripture, but it is stated in various forms (Opus Dei n.d.) – Joshua in addressing the leaders of the tribes asks them to make a choice between the household deities they have always served, and with the Lord God. He then says, “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15) and when Jesus is tempted by Satan in the desert, He rebukes Satan by saying, “Get away, Satan! It is written: ‘The Lord, your God, shall you worship and him alone shall you serve.’”(Matthew 4:10)
In encountering the Serviam, the opposing side is found in Non-Serviam – “I will not serve.” It is an act of rebellion against God. We see in Jeremiah 2: 19-20, “Your own wickedness chastises you, your own infidelities punish you. Know then, and see, how evil and bitter is your forsaking the LORD, your God, And your showing no fear of me, oracle of the Lord, the GOD of hosts. Long ago you broke your yoke, you tore off your bonds. You said, “I will not serve.” On every high hill, under every green tree, you sprawled and served as a prostitute.” In this instance, Jeremiah is chastising Israel who has chosen to break their covenant with the Lord God. Israel is not only unfaithful, the people were also filled with ingratitude, and had turned to irrational ways.
The ethos of a non-serviam is predicated on a rebellion against God. At the heart of this rebellion is pride. Pride, accordingly,
“is the excessive love of one’s own excellence… that frame of mind in which a man, through the love of his own worth, aims to withdraw himself from subjection to Almighty God, and sets at naught the commands of superiors. It is a species of contempt of God and of those who bear his commission. Regarded in this way, it is of course mortal sin of a most heinous sort. Indeed St. Thomas rates it in this sense as one of the blackest of sins. By it the creature refuses to stay within his essential orbit; he turns his back upon God, not through weakness or ignorance, but solely because in his self-exaltation he is minded not to submit. (Delany 1911: para 1)
This is reminiscent of Satan’s own refusal to serve the Lord God. Wanting to be God, Satan rebelled against God and refused to serve God. To this end, Satan was rebuked and subdued by the Archangel Michael, whose Hebrew name, Mikhaʾel, means Who is like God?
If we are not serving God, then we are serving ourselves. We have made ourselves into gods and have desired to only please ourselves. This is pride.
What is your response to God’s invitation today?
By the Grace of God,
Brian Bartholomew Tan
References
Delany, John. 1911. “Pride.” The Catholic Encyclopaedia. Retrieved January 26, 2025 (https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12405a.htm).
Opus Dei. n.d. “An Offering Pleasing to God: Morning Offering and ‘Serviam!’” Opus Dei. Retrieved January 26, 2025 (https://opusdei.org/en-sg/article/offering-pleasing-to-god-morning-offering-serviam/#_ftn13).