Saint Paul writes in the first reading from the book of Romans, “The gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.” Every single person has been given gifts by God that can be used in His service, and to be of service to His people. This is a permanent state in our lives as Christians. Even when we are sick, or grow old, we still have gifts that can serve God. Smiles and kindness are contagious at any age. There are many faithful Catholics throughout the world who are paralyzed and confined to their beds, but they offer their prayers for others. These suffering souls have an apostolate of prayer. Even small children between 4-6 years old know enough about the world to pray for their sick grandparents, their baby brother or sister, a family member that died, or a parent who is struggling with a job loss or other serious problem.
Inmates that are incarcerated in prisons often develop an apostolate of prayer too. They pray for the unborn, the homeless, the sick, those in hospitals, their families and other inmates who are incarcerated with them. Prisoners will often pray for their victims or those they have harmed. They pray for other families who have been affected by crime. And, inside the prison, there are very compassionate inmates who take care of those who are terminally ill, have cancer, or severe mental illness, or take care of those who attempt suicide inside the prison. They help one another learn how to pray the rosary and explain their Catholic faith to others and encourage one another to attend mass and go to confession.
This leads us into the rest of the first reading for mass today when Saint Paul writes, “Just as you once disobeyed God, but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now disobeyed in order that, by virtue of the mercy shown to you, they too may now receive mercy. For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.”
Prisoners often do undergo a genuine conversion while they are incarcerated. Not all do, but many say that their incarceration was actually a blessing because they never would have come to know God and the Lord Jesus, or discovered the beauty of their Catholic faith unless they were incarcerated. Incarceration turns out to be a blessing and literally, a life saver. There are many inmates who are baptized in prison and receive the sacraments of the church for the first time during their incarceration.
This also leads into the rest of the first reading, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments and how unsearchable his ways!” Sometimes people come to know God because of the darkness in their lives. Against the darkness of the worst periods of sin in their lives, God’s goodness, light and love becomes very pronounced. It is so important for Catholics to reach out to those who seem unreachable, even if they never see the fruits of their efforts. Prison guards will tell you that sometimes a very small act of kindness, will make a difference in an inmate’s life even many years later. Seeds of hope, seeds of love, the seeds of God’s love for every human being, takes a while to sprout sometimes. But the seed is there, even if we never personally see it sprout.
In today’s gospel Jesus asks us to invite the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind to dinner because of their inability to repay us. He tells us to serve those who can not repay you. It is human nature to want others to notice the good works that you do. It is also human nature, even in the church’s ministries to feel like your volunteer efforts are “rewarding”. The least rewarding ministries usually stay chronically short on help for this reason. If you feed the hungry, they are grateful and smile and thank you for it. Unborn babies can not say thank you for trying to save their life though. Critically ill patients on life support, or those on death row will probably never have a chance to thank the people who prayed for their lives either. If you send money for the starving children in Haiti or other poor countries, they will not usually thank you either, but God knows of your efforts of love for his children.
No one else may ever know of your acts of kindness, love and concern for God’s children wherever they may be throughout the world, but He will. He will repay you at the resurrection. What joy there will be in heaven, to meet those whom you served, and for them to meet you! Money will be of no use there, only love.
Perhaps today, we could think of ways to be of service to others, without being noticed for our efforts or even thanked for them. God knows our secrets.
Daily Mass Readings:
Rom 11: 29-36 / Ps 69: 30-31 33-34, 36 / Lk 14: 12-14
