Why Serve?

In case you haven't noticed recently, we have a culture that tends to remain apathetic or ignorant towards the plight of others. Yes, we do show some sympathy towards the countless tragedies of the third world, and some of us, if we have some disposable income, may feel compelled to put some money in an envelope and send it off to one of many charities to feed the hungry mouths of these places (and its a good thing to do so), but at the end of the day, things don't really change for us. We go to bed each night well fed and complacent, we wake each morning and spend more on our morning coffee than the people who harvest that coffee get for a daily wage. In many ways, we unconsciously feed the system of poverty with our own indifference and apathy.

Now, I'm not saying this to make you feel miserable, or guilty, or to pressure everyone into selling their possessions and moving to Guatemala to pick coffee next to the natives. However, I do think we, as a culture and especially as a Church need to be more aware and be connected to the plight of other, both far off in the third world and here at home.

It is an undeniable part of the human experience to undergo suffering and hardship. Our responsibility as human beings, and even more so as Catholics christians is to have solidarity with those who suffer, to understand that we're all children of God and thus we are obligated to help our brothers and sisters facing adversity, affliction, or difficulty. When Cain killed his brother Abel, God asked him about the whereabouts of his brother, to which Cain famously retorted "Am I my brother's keeper?" (cf. Genesis 4:8-10) The correct response to that question is "No, you are your brother's brother." As a Church, Christ's visible body on the earth, we're called to be as brothers and sisters, parts of one body, empathizing with the pain of the rest of the body. Christ reminds us that he takes the care of the poor very personally, saying, "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25:40).

And so, we find that service has to be fundamental to our identity as a Catholic community, stemming from the realization that we are our brother's brothers, that we are one in Christ. When our service stems from this truth, it is not merely fulfillment of obligation, but a generous act of love. This is how our participation in STARR needs to be, not merely begrudging labor or a write-off for mandatory service hours, but a selfless gift in the name of Christ. Our service should be a proclamation of the love of Christ, the same love we receive in the gift of Eucharist, the same love that the Blessed Mother shows for us in her sheltering care and unending intercession, the same love that drove the Saints to seek holiness, and the same love that gives life to the Church to this day.

While it may seem we're not doing anything important, the truth of the matter is we're doing something extremely important; we're being Christ's hands on earth. True, we're not solving world hunger by working one to two hours a week in Indianapolis, but we are doing something meaningful, something outside the ordinary. Blessed Mother Teresa once said to would be followers "Stay where you are, find your own Calcutta. Feed the sick, the suffering and the lonely right there where you are -- in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your school. You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people whoa re unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society, completely forgotten, completely left alone." This is a great explanation of STARR's task. We are called to serve the "Calcutta" in Indianapolis, among our own hungry, poor, disadvantaged and tired brethren here.

So, when you join us to serve, remember what you're doing, and who you are doing it for, and why you are doing it. See the importance of even the most seemingly meaningless task, and serve God and others joyfully. Hope to see you this Friday! God bless!