In this parable, Jesus uses an image that, though politically incorrect in our own day, would have been common and completely relatable in his day. Jesus compares Christian discipleship with the relationship between a slave-owner and his slave.
Jesus’ culture practiced and to some degree accepted slavery. So, even though we might find the comparison distasteful, we do well to look for the gem of truth.
In this culture, slaves belonged to their masters completely. The slave would not expect any recompense for his service. And Jesus is saying, so too must it be for the Christian. We do not simply engage in good works because of the promise of heavenly reward. Prayer, penance, works of mercy, are not simply done because God will reward them. They are our way of life. Christians cannot ignore the need for prayer any more than we can ignore the need to breathe and eat.
St. Paul felt the necessity of preaching the Gospel in his very bones. Paul went so far as to say “woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.” Preaching wasn’t just something nice that Paul did in his spare time, he couldn’t imagine life without helping people enter right relationship to God through Jesus.
The idea of simply “doing the bare minimum” in order to achieve a place in heaven would have been completely foreign to Paul, any more than a slave belonging completely to his master would consider not fulfilling his obligations. Even called himself, “a slave for Christ Jesus”. That does not mean his relationship to God was loveless, quite the opposite. He made himself a slave, out of love.
The fact that we might not understand Paul here, the motivation of the unprofitable servant, shows just how much conversion we have to do: to consider the fulfillment of the precepts of the Gospel as indispensable to our very being. We see this attitude not just in the life of Paul, but in the lives of all the saints. We see their extreme asceticism, their radical prayer life, their drastic renunciation of earthly pursuits. And I guarantee, they wouldn’t have it any other way. For in making oneself a slave of Christ, subordinating every passion to Him, we find our greatest freedom, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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That our Church leaders may be instilled with genuine Faith, Hope, and Charity and help all people to grow in those virtues.
That our president and all civil servants will carry out their duties with justice, honesty, and respect for the dignity of every human life. We pray to the Lord.
That our young people may take seriously the missionary call of Christ, that they will turn away from the godlessness of our culture to spread the good news of Christ’s eternal kingdom.
That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering.
For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased clergy and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.
O God, our refuge and our strength, hear the prayers of your Church, for you yourself are the source of all devotion, and grant, we pray, that what we ask in faith we may truly obtain. Through Christ our Lord.
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