We are Unworthy Servants

My Xanga account is closed and I cannot edit or add any blog entries though the entries are still available for public view. I will continue posting weekly Sunday commentaries here.

The Deacons shared their feelings on this passage last Sunday.
Deacon Lee first compared these servants with the elder brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son. In his own eyes, the elder brother thought highly of his own service. Therefore, he demanded reward. This was a mistake. He had done what was his duty (Luke 17:10).
Deacon Tse asked who the "master" was. Was he the clients we served?
Deacon Chow brought our attention to the structure of the story. It began with the disciples asking Jesus to increase their faith (Luke 17:5). Then, Jesus told them the power of faith even as meagre as a grain of mustard seed (Luke 17:6). Suddenly, Jesus changed the topic to talk about the master and servants. What is the relationship between "faith" and the "master", the "unworthy servants" or even the "master-servant" relation?
Cosmas Kwong attempted to relate the "worthlessness" of the servants with "faith". Since we are unworthy, we must acknowledge our limitations. Therefore, we need to put our faith in God.
Louis Wong reminded us of the teaching of St. Paul.
he (Jesus) said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
For when we are weak, unworthy, the power of Christ is manifested.
Deacon Ng brought our focus back to "faith". He asked how much we believe in ourselves, how much we believe in God.
I love their sharings. These deacons and deacon candidates are people of high intelligence and deep spirituality. By the way, this sharing session was conducted by Deacon Tsang in the absence of the Vicar General. It seemed to me that they felt less restrained with their sharing when the VG was not there.

Here is my share. I think we are both masters and servants. We are masters when we command the others to serve us. However, we need faith to be masters. We need faith in ourselves as well as in our servants. With faith even as meagre as a mustard seed, a sycamine tree would obey us (Luke 17:6). In this mode of thinking, we would not be grateful to our "servant", be this servant a sycamine tree or even our God (Luke 17:9)!
In most cases, we are only servants, unworthy servants. We need faith to be servants as well. If we don't have faith in our master or in his design, we fail. Therefore, when we accomplish our duty, we have only completed a part, perhaps a very tiny part, of a master plan. Most of the time, we don't see the master plan. That is why, as servants, we beg Jesus to increase our faith.
To me, faith is not one-sided. Most of the time, we speak of our faith in God, putting our trust in Him. However, isn't it amazing that in reality, God has faith in us, His creatures! We do not have enough faith in ourselves. Alas! The question Deacon Ng raised was a deep one.

Fr. Milanese brought home the importance of faith in our life. Most of the time, we are frustrated. We keep praying day after day and week after week. Yet, the world does not change much. Bad news keeps popping up on the newspapers. That is why we are frustrated. However, we need to have faith. Without faith, we will not even try to do something to change the world. Without faith, nothing would be accomplished.

Dear Lord, increase our faith in ourselves and in You. Amen.