One evening whilst waiting for my son to finish his shift at a local grocery shop, my attention was drawn to a sign in the shop window. It read ‘Service from the Heart’. I wondered about the nature of this service. It is tempting to be skeptical about the service provided by an establishment which has, as its primary aim, to make a profit. However, many of our local shops offer a valuable service and ‘tailor‘ their ‘store to meet the needs of the local community‘, as the sign went on to say.
I reflected about the word ‘service’ and how my understanding of it has changed. I had little understanding of what service meant when I was younger. I look back at the sacrifices my parents made for me and realise that I was, at times, indifferent and unappreciative. As I get older, I appreciate more what a life of service truly means. As a wife and mother, each day I am called to a make sacrifices for the sake of those in my care, to give of myself for the sake of the other person. Our children learned something of service when they looked after their elderly grandparents before they passed away. Service is not a popular word or sentiment in today’s world where we are constantly being told to put ourselves first. Service asks that we give of ourselves without seeking reward or praise from those whom we serve. We are called to do acts of charity and go the extra mile for others. It is love for the other person which makes our self giving possible. However even when love is not what motivates us, when we put others before ourselves, it is because it has a purpose beyond the other, a higher purpose, which is God Himself. God calls us to a life of service and gives us the talents we need to live that life.
Our parish recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the ordination of our Parish Priest. Coincidentally, forty years ago, as a young girl living in Sligo, I remember a neighbour who was ordained a priest. On his return to greet his community as a newly ordained priest there was great rejoicing. Everyone gathered on the streets on a warm June evening, the place decorated with bunting and music lifting everyone’s spirit. It was a most joyful celebration. I related this story to our children who listened with amazement! It was not an experience they could identify with in their lives, making the celebration of our Parish Priest’s anniversary all the more important, as they reflected on the example of his life in their experience of faith. The Mass was a celebration of and a prayer for priesthood. In the homily we were reminded that, ‘the priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus’, that when we laud the priesthood we are not glorifying the men who have answered the call but we are extolling the extraordinary deeds God accomplishes through the service of his priests, who are called to serve his people, like Christ himself, who came not to be served, but to serve.
We celebrated Vocations Sunday on Father’s Day, the 18th June. We tend to think of vocation in terms of religious vocation. It is of course and we give thanks for the gift of priesthood and religious life. But all of us are called, no matter what our state in life, to use the talents God has generously given us in the service of the Gospel. It requires humility, generosity and self- sacrifice, which comes at a cost, just as it cost Jesus everything, as he offered His life out of love for each one of us.
Paula Kennedy is a wife, mother, Parishioner of Badoney Upper and Sacristan in Cranagh.
