Taskmasters

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

“Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so.” Doing what? What is it that the master of the house wants to find his steward doing? Mowing the lawn? Fixing the chimney? Sand-blasting the siding? Nope, not in this particular parable. The master of the house wants to find his steward distributing food to his other servants. And conversely, the behavior cited as worthy of punishment is mistreatment of the other servants.

Sometimes we over-index on the tasks in our lives, our to-do list, which our conscience tells us is our non-negotiable responsibility set, and under-index on love. St. John of the Cross, however, tells us in his singular style, “Upon the dusk of our lives, they will examine us on our love.” It is by our love that we will be judged.

Of course, tasks are part of love. But too often, for us they take on some sort of larger-than-life meaning all their own, and our conscience obsesses with their completion rather than the welfare of the persons for whom we are completing them.

What a great pairing of readings today. In the first reading, Paul is in the very act of embodying the good steward. His letter to the Corinthians oozes with his love for the Christians of Corinth, his passion for their welfare in Christ. And He is feeding them with his encouragement and example of trust in God. When the Master of the house returned home for Paul, He found him throwing everything he had into doing that which Jesus had directly asked Simon Peter to do, and in him, all of us: “Feed my sheep.” (cf. Jn. 21:17).

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: St. John of the Cross uses the curious phrase, “they will examine us on our love.” St. Ignatius, for his part, is a big fan of daily self-examination. Thinking of that examination at the end of our lives, examine your day today, your week, your overall attitude, to discover if you are doing tasks anxiously, mindlessly, for their own sake, for a sense of completion. Or if you are actually obsessed with the happiness, first eternal, but also temporal, of those for whom you are doing the tasks. Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you. Then, ask Our Lord to fill your heart more with love, until this becomes your obsession, rather than the checklist.