Tuesday Of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time

Merely Servants

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Other Celebrations for this Day:

Saint Martin of Tours

Introduction

When he sees life cut short by the will of people, the author of the book of Wisdom understands that the reward for fidelity does not always come during life. But human persons are imperishable. God will reward them after death. Death is already overcome by the way the faithful face it and so by their free act of accepting death, the just express their trust in God. They are in the hands of God.

The words of Jesus in today’s gospel seem to be directed more to the Pharisees and scribes, who claimed to be servants of God, than to the apostles. They were self-assured servants; they computed their merits for what they had done for God and asserted their right to his rewards. Perhaps the apostles too were not always too modest in their claims as companions of Jesus. All should put their trust in God and leave everything to him. Not what we have done for God counts, but what he does for us in his mercy. We are in his hands.

Opening Prayer

God, merciful Father,
you know what is in our hearts.
Whether our intentions are good or selfish,
we leave everything
to your compassionate judgment.
But this we ask of you:
Confirm us in the will
to serve you and our people
in loyalty and love
and for the rest, we are in your hands,
for you are our God and Father
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

First Reading

Wisdom 2:23–3:9

God formed man to be imperishable;
the image of his own nature he made them.
But by the envy of the Devil, death entered the world,
and they who are in his possession experience it.

But the souls of the just are in the hand of God,
and no torment shall touch them.
They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;
and their passing away was thought an affliction
and their going forth from us, utter destruction.
But they are in peace.
For if before men, indeed, they be punished,
yet is their hope full of immortality;
Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,
because God tried them
and found them worthy of himself.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;
They shall judge nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord shall be their King forever.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19

R. (2a) I will bless the Lord at all times.
I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Let my soul glory in the LORD;
the lowly will hear me and be glad.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
The LORD has eyes for the just,
and ears for their cry.
The LORD confronts the evildoers,
to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.
When the just cry out, the LORD hears them,
and from all their distress he rescues them.
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;
and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.
R. I will bless the Lord at all times.

Alleluia Verse

John 14:23

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

Luke 17:7-10

Who among you would tell your servant, coming in from the fields after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Go ahead and have your dinner’?

No, you tell him, ‘Prepare my dinner. Put on your apron and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink afterward.’

Do you thank this servant for doing what you told him to do?

I don’t think so. Therefore, when you have done all that you have been told to do, you should say, ‘We are no more than servants; we have only done our duty.’”

Prayers of the Faithful

– Lord, let rewards and honors come to us as surprises, rather than as something we deserve, we pray:

– Lord, for us and all who are baptized, that we may follow Christ, your perfect servant, and that with him we may serve rather than demand to be served, we pray:

– That leaders in the Church and in the world may serve the interests of their people rather than their own, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

God, our Father,
we have often been useless servants
who have not done what you expected of us.
And yet you invite us to your table
and serve us the best food and drink,
your Son Jesus Christ.
Make us trustworthy and loyal
like your faithful servant,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
without any merit on our part,
you have called us to be
your sons and daughters
through your loyal Son and servant Jesus Christ.
Give us the humble strength
not to consider this gift from you
as a title to privileges and awards
but a trust and a responsibility
to serve you in people
and to make your love known to all.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord.

Blessing

We should not boast to God of what we have done for him. Everything we could do was a gift from him. So let us thank God. May he bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

REFLECTIONS

11 November 2025

Luke 17:7-10

Unprofitable Servants

Today’s Gospel might seem challenging initially: Jesus instructs His disciples that they should fulfil their duties without seeking recognition or reward for their efforts. “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what we ought to have done.” But behind these words is a lesson in humility, joy, and true service.

First, Jesus reminds us that discipleship is not about multiplying activities, as if busyness alone would save us. What matters is faithfulness—doing what God asks of us, not everything we imagine or desire. Sometimes we tire ourselves with many good things that are not ours to do. True service is to listen, discern, and carry out our proper task with love.

Second, Jesus teaches us not to complain or make ourselves victims in the face of duty. Life requires effort, sacrifice, and perseverance. When we embrace our responsibilities with patience, they become a path of grace rather than chains of bitterness.

Finally, the Gospel calls us to serve with humility. Service is not about recognition or reward, but about love. God reveals Himself in the small and ordinary tasks of each day—in the quiet acts of kindness, the hidden sacrifices, the unnoticed gestures of care. To be a disciple is not to seek glory for ourselves, but to serve joyfully for God’s glory.

Jesus does not diminish our dignity when He calls us “unworthy servants.” Instead, He invites us to discover the deepest truth: that everything we have is gift, and service is our grateful response to God’s love. When we serve humbly, we find freedom and peace, for in giving ourselves without seeking reward, we share most fully in the life of Christ.

Unprofitable servants
The parable in today’s Gospel surprises us because, some Sundays ago, we heard Jesus speak in a very different way: “Blessed are those servants whom the master on his return will find them awake; in truth I tell you, he will put on an apron and have them sit at the table and he will wait on them.” (Lk 12:37). Pay attention to the Master who promises to serve his faithful servant! Then we reflected on a God who came to serve his people. But today, the message is to do your job without expecting any remuneration or reward.

The Master in today’s parable says to his servant: “First, serve me; after I am satisfied, you will eat supper.” The text needs to be understood in the cultural context of the time of Jesus when an enslaved person was considered the owner’s property. He had no choice but to obey the orders of the master.

In the parable, Jesus does not intend to confront the problem of slavery. Instead, he wants to correct the misleading way the Pharisees understood the relationship with God. They believed that at the end-of-life, God would repay them based on the performance of each one. Therefore, the Pharisees taught the people to accomplish the maximum possible number of good works: prayers, fasting, alms, religious practices, sacrifices, scrupulous observances of the commandments and precepts, so that God would reward them for their good works.

But this way of understanding God damages our faith. We don’t believe in a God who records the good and bad of every person and grants them reward or punishment. The parable wants to destroy this image of God. Jesus does not intend to underestimate the good works, but at the same time, there is no need to compete to grab the favour and love of God: there is an abundance of his love for all.

Jesus wants them to understand that the behaviour of the Pharisee who exhibits and boasts about his own merits before God is foolish because all that is good is always a gratuitous gift of God and not a merit of the person. The Pharisees computed their merits for what they had done for God and asserted their right to his rewards. Perhaps we too are not always modest in our claims as disciples of Jesus.

St Paul in his first letter to the community in Corinth asks: “What do you possess that you have not received? If you have received it, why are you proud of it as if you have not received it?” (1 Cor 4:7). We should place our trust in God and leave everything to him. Not what we have done for God counts, but what he does for us in his mercy. We are in God’s hands.

Suing God

A few years ago, a 27-year-old man, Raphael Samuel, sued his parents for having given birth to him without his consent. He believed he had the right not to be born! Ultimately, it is all about claiming one’s rights, even when the claims are an insult to one's intelligence. But don’t we make similar, if not the same, claims before God? It is as if God owed us something. Peter asked Jesus: “We have left everything for you; What do we get?” James and John claimed the right to sit on his right and left. We conveniently forget that essentially, we are creatures and it is we who owe God. If God has upgraded us to the status of his sons and daughters, it is an act of pure grace. As Paul delightfully announces: “Now the grace of God has appeared.” We do not merit this grace; it is generously given.

Reflection taken from Bible Diary 2022; written by Fr. Paulson Velyannoor, CMF