In his homily, directed to Deacon Cormier as well as the congregants, Bishop Provost spoke of service, in particular as the Gospel of Matthew, 20th chapter, 26th verse reads, ‘Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant.’
“The Gospel proclaims the redemptive work of Jesus Christ,” Bishop Provost said. “He indeed came not ‘to be served but to serve’ and in so doing ‘give his life as a ransom for many’. As we know, this is a reference to the Suffering Servant in Isaiah. The servant gives his life for the master. “The servant lives at the beckoning and call of the one he serves,” the Bishop continued. “There is a redemptive dimension to this servant. Jesus raises the task of being a servant to that of redeemer. As He has done, so also should we do, for in becoming a servant we imitate the Lord.”
Bishop Provost related a recent conversation with a priest about the man’s experience with questions from his parishioners about his acts of service.
“He held a position which required that he perform certain tasks that these parishioners considered servile,” Bishop Provost continued. “So they asked him, “Don’t you feel demeaned, being a servant, performing those menial tasks?” The priest responded, and correctly so, that he did not. Quite the contrary, he considered it a privilege to perform his duties. He accepted wholeheartedly his role as a servant.”
Continuing the Bishop pointed out, ‘“Servant’ is almost a dirty word in the modern American vocabulary. In everyday life, we would never call anyone a servant nor would we wish to be called a servant. I humbly suggest that unless we overcome this tendency then we risk missing the lesson of the Gospel—which is, that in being a servant we share in the work of Christ.”
He told Deacon Cormier “this morning we are celebrating diaconia. The word means service and Matthew is being ordained to the diaconate. He is going to be a servant. Some will have to get over it. Matthew should not.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Bishop Provost’s homily, in its entirety, may be found at http://live.lcdiocese.org/bishop-provost/homilies/1305-diaconate-ordination-2013.html.)
