Serving Others (Part 1) - October 24, 2021

Today’s Gospel reading reminds me of a parable I heard years ago. The parable starts with an image of Hell where there is an enormous banquet of delicious food and everyone present is ravenous. Everyone has utensils attached to their hands that are three feet long and so they cannot scoop the food into their own mouths. Consequently, everyone remains starving.

Heaven is the same thing, except everyone is feeding the people around them. Christ tells the disciples that those who serve shall be first.

When I reflect on today’s Gospel within the context of mental health, it makes me think about how frequently people benefit from focusing on serving others and serving a larger purpose. We are called as Catholics to live like Christ and serve others, but we often can lose focus of this call and instead focus too much on ourselves.

When we serve others, we make a gift of ourselves to them and we recognize that there is more to life and the world than just our thoughts, desires, and feelings. This is the larger purpose that allows us to get outside of ourselves for a time. These acts often result in feelings of purpose, joy, peace, and a closer relationship with Christ.

A greater sense of purpose is also an incredible way to avoid or decrease some of the mental health issues that we face such as depression and anxiety. In recent reflections, we have discussed the importance of boundaries, so I want to remind everyone that there is a balance between focusing on ourselves and serving others, which we will discuss more in part two of this series.

This week, consider praying about new ways to serve others or simply to recognize and reflect on the ways that you already serve others in your work, family life, and friendships.