Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop

Today's Mass Readings

As a seminarian, I can feel as if I barely have time in a day to fulfill all that’s asked of me. Even with the best effort I can muster, I feel like I’m always lagging just behind where I should be. Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel seem to add even more pressure to this experience—if even those who fulfill all their obligations are still “unprofitable servants,” what does that make me? These words make me tense up, dreading the ‘above and beyond’ that Jesus seems to be asking.

This is not what Jesus meant, though. He doesn’t say that we need to do more. The problem here is in the way we fulfill our obligations. Most days, I work like it all depends on me. If I can push myself a little harder, surely I will get everything done, and then I will finally be the “profitable servant.” But where is God in that? Do I glorify God in my work if I only offer it to Him once it is completed?

Authentic holiness is found in allowing God to enter into our daily tasks with us. Today’s first reading says that those who trust God “abide with him in love,” that “grace and mercy” are with them. If we lean on the Lord, trusting Him to see us through even the busiest days, things will go much better for us. Maybe we still fail to get everything done, and maybe the day is still hard and busy. The difference is that we are no longer so focused on simply getting it done. Even while our hands are occupied, our souls are free. Instead of feeling the pressure and stress of busyness, we can offer God our simple heart at every moment, allowing Him to enter into our work with us and sanctify the day’s tasks. Simply fulfilling our obligations is not enough. But to complete even half of our obligations with a heart full of love is.

Reflection by Noah, seminarian