Feast of St. James, the Apostle

Being a “servant” is not synonymous with servitude. Jesus’ command that we become servants means dedicating our strengths to serving others in the best way we know how. Just look at some of the great leaders like St. Ignatius and St. Teresa of Avila who became great saints by doing this.   

A beauty of Jesus’ admonition in this gospel is that it makes greatness accessible to everyone. 

Ironically, however, you cannot achieve greatness as a servant if you seek recognition for what you’ve done. Jesus did not like status seekers as he reminded the mother of James and John.  

So here are our marching orders for today: find a way to serve with no expectation of reward or fanfare. If we also can lead others into service, let's do so. We might just stumble into greatness in the eyes of the Lord.