I woke up the other day around 2:36am to do my meditation and adoration of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. As I read the readings for this weekend and sat down for meditation, a question kept popping in my head: “Why are we here on earth? What are we doing here? Why? Why? Why?” This question almost felt like a sound that Imad to leave my chapel to go and look out through the window. But I was not hallucinating or in mystical ecstasy. It’s just that the question was so urgent that it appeared it came in form of sound. I got back to my chapel, sat quietly in my chair and opened myself to the silence of that hour.
In the quiet of that moment, it dawned on me that we are all in this world to do God’s work, and that’s it; no more, no less! God has not placed us in this world to be famous, to seek social status, to compete for attention and approval, to be known or promoted in anything! We are in this world simply to do God’s work with the very talents and gifts God has given to each person. We are not in this world to promote ourselves, but to promote God and the values that are embedded in the Gospel: love, kindness, forgiveness, justice, truth, fidelity, hard work, responsibility, and communion among all God’s children. It is something I had known and which we all learn in catechism class. But this particular day, this truth stared at me with such an absolute clarity that felt like a bright but gentle light from heaven. I gradually went through the history of my life to see where and how I have been selfish; the times and places where I was driven by the desire to achieve and be first among others, which did not permit me to be as kind and generous as I would have loved to be; and so on! But they are all experiences that were meant to lead me to this moment of clarity that God has placed me on this earth to be simply a spiritual teacher, a priest, a guide, a prophet who hears and speaks God’s word! It’s the task given to me by God. It is not about me; it is about God and His Kingdom. Each moment I carry out this task, I should come before the Lord in prayer and say: “I am merely your servant; I have done no more than my duty” (Lk. 17:10), because it is a privilege, an honor to do God’s work!
Look at your life in the light of this truth and you will see how free your heart feels. All you need to know is that you are placed here in this world to do God’s work to the best of your knowledge and ability: as a mother, father, husband, wife, teacher, nurse, doctor, electrician, plumber, secretary, businessman or woman, hairdresser, mailperson, mechanic, engineer, politician, lawyer, cleaner, etc. No one is better than the other; no task is more important than the other, for we are all given different talents – some 5 talents, others 10, others 2, others 15, according to God’s inscrutable wisdom. All tasks are important and needed. As long as we know we are doing God’s work, we apply ourselves fully to it and give ourselves completely to the task, and through it, we make the lives of others better and the world a better place. If we complain and let ourselves be overcome by envy and jealousy and not do our work, like the fellow in today’s gospel (Mt. 25:14-30), we have defeated our main purpose of being here in this world; and that will make it even harder to leave this world when death calls. When we conscientiously apply ourselves to doing God’s work in this world, we will be ready whenever God calls us home. Just think and pray about it this weekend, and may His grace be with you. Amen
