Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Today’s message is quite simple.  I am not here to be served but to serve.  Look at our Gospel today and Jesus is quite clear to his Apostles – we are not here to seek honor for ourselves but to serve the Lord our God –  humbly and without fail…But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt.  But it shall not be so among you…”

Earlier in the week we were taught that to those whom much is given, much is expected in return.  I know God has blessed me with much  so I must be willing to share and serve as a thanksgiving to God for His blessings.  I am here to serve one purpose and that is to do the will of God but not just me – all of us.  All of us are called.  We are here to serve our Lord in whatever capacity He calls us to do.  We pray this everyday when we repeat the greatest prayer ever given to us…God’s will not mine be done.  In our house we have a set of rules/guidelines that we are asked our kids to follow and one of them was “Don’t whine when asked to do things.”  I believe that is what Jesus is telling us today.  God needs me – God needs all of us –  to stop whining and to doing His holy will which is LOVE and MERCY.

Do something great for our Lord today – serve His people with joy and gladness.  Start with your family and friends, serve your local community, pray for peace in the world.  Be willing to drink from that same chalice that Jesus drank from.  Do it all for God and you’ll soon learn, your doing it all for you.

God’s will, not mine, be done.

Be not afraid; just have faith.

Jesus, I trust in You.

He must increase; I must decrease.

Lord, if You wish, You can make me clean.

But you man of God chose righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience and gentleness.  Compete well for the faith.

Eternal God, in Whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion – inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us so that in difficult moments we may not despair nor become despondent but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your holy will which is Love and Mercy itself.