By Fr Joseph Thambi Kakumanu CRS
God has personally called, gifted, equipped, and empowered each believer to serve one another in building up the body of Christ to the glory of God.
The Somascan Congregation is born to reform the church, in particular, to serve the orphans and the needy youth and it perseveres with love and care in this mission, which is a precious inheritance of our Father and Founder St. Jerome Emiliani.
Every person has the two most important days of his life are: the day you are born, and the day you find out why. It can take us a long time to find out for sure why we were born, to come to understand what life is really about.
From the life of St. Jerome Emiliani we understand that he discovered about service, service of God and service of people. In God’s plan that is the secret of life, that is our calling.
Jerome realized that his service to the orphans demanded his life; ‘to live and die with them’. He also gave outstanding service to his brethren.
We are called to serve because we were created so that we could choose to live our lives for God’s glory. No matter what others may try to tell us what we should do in life, glorifying God is really what matters for the Christian. Our main reason for existence, our reason for getting up in the morning is to serve and glorify God.
We may have many things in life, but all of that is subsequent to bringing glory to God each day you live. Many of us have all sorts of plans and schemes about what we want to do for God, and how we can go about glorifying Him.
“We are called to serve is that Jesus himself chose for himself the role of a servant, and He calls us to be like Him. We were made in his image originally, but sin marred that likeness.”
In God’s plan of salvation God is bringing us back to His original plan by making us to become like Christ and that includes being like Jesus in servant hood.
We admire Jesus’ purity, single-mindedness and his compassion. We love his gentle way and many other qualities about him. But Jesus himself stated that he came to serve. We cannot leave out that part of the character of Christ.
Taking the initiative to serve does not mean you need to overwhelm yourself with all the needs of the world, but it does mean going ahead and serving by meeting the needs of those around you.
And don’t get frustrated with your inability to serve as much as you might want to. Frustration is sometimes a sign that you are trying too hard in your own strength and not the Lord’s. Let the Lord lead you into service.
We are called to serve. If we are really serious about becoming like Him and carrying the Good News to Salvation to those who do not believe yet, then we should follow Jesus’ example.
You and I have the privilege of volunteering to be servants of people for Jesus’ sake, and the rewards for doing that are eternal.
God is far more interested in why you serve others than in how well you serve them. He’s always looking at your heart, serving willingly and eagerly out of love for Jesus and gratitude for all he’s done for you. You are most like Jesus when you’re serving others.
After washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus said, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you.” (John 13:14–15)