How do you bless the Lord?

Good News ReflectionTuesday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary TimeNovember 10, 2009
Today's Memorial: Saint Leo the GreatPray for fearlessness:http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/LeoGreat.htm
Today's Readings:Wisdom 2:23--3:9Ps 34:2-3, 16-19Luke 17:7-10http://www.usccb.org/nab/111009.shtmlUSCCB Podcast of the Readings:http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/09_11_10.mp3
How do you bless the Lord?
Because we love Jesus, we want to please him. We certainly don't want to be "unprofitable" (useless) to him, like the servants he describes in today's Gospel reading. But to be use-FULL, we have to do MORE than our duty, more than what's expected of us. We have to do more than the minimum requirements in the parish, in the home, in the workplace, and in the world community.
Mediocrity is not the hallmark of a truly alive Christian. In fact, I would dare say that mediocrity is a sin, because we should always be giving God our very best efforts.
In today's responsorial Psalm, we promise to bless the Lord at all times. What does this mean? How does one bless the Lord; is it by saying, "I bless you, God"? Like HE needs OUR blessing. Ri-i-i-ght.
We bless God by going the extra mile for him. How can we be a blessing to him if we settle for the mediocre instead of excelling and doing the very best that we can with everything he's given us?
Consider, for example, how much we put into the parish collection basket. Are we obeying the minimum scriptural requirement here (10% of all income) or even close to that much? A couple of dollars does not bless the Lord unless our income was less than twenty dollars that week.
Are we going to Mass only as an insurance policy to protect ourselves from punishment and hell? That's not blessing the Lord. Are we in marriages that have not been sacramentalized by the Church because we don't want to put forth the effort to do whatever must be done to receive the Sacrament? That's not blessing the Lord.
In parish ministries, are we doing only what MUST get done, without a spirit of joy and without pooling our talents in collaborative efforts with people in other ministries? And are our parish events and projects done without a spirit of evangelization? If so, we're only doing our duty – and Jesus says we're useless.
Egads!
The Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity (of Vatican Council II) says: "Between the members of this body there exists such a unity and solidarity that a member who does not work at the growth of the body to the extent of his possibilities must be considered useless both to the Church and to himself" (paragraph 2).
Egads again!
Being a blessing to the Lord means that we're so excited about what he has done for us that we feel like we can't do enough for him. This feeling of holy frustration motivates us to serve above and beyond the call of duty. This divine dissatisfaction is what transforms us from useless servants to friends of Jesus who reach our full earthly potential.
As useful servants, we want to make a difference in this world for the kingdom of God. We want to serve his kingdom until our dying breath and even after we die! And so, in heaven, we'll continue the ministries of love that we started while we lived on the earth. (What, you thought "resting in peace" meant floating around on a cloud with nothing to do? How boring!)
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