May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
“Here I am,” I said; “send me!”

Isaiah 6:8

Once a year I try to write something about service.  This can be a tricky subject because it can come across many different ways, most of which sound preachy or proud.  You can tell people how they should volunteer more and use Jesus’ own words to make the point.  Or, you can give examples of your own service, how you have benefited personally and seen the results of that service.  But the message still seems stale, especially when it is coming from an organization that is looking to get you into their service.

But, that is part of the mission of the Catholic Business League: Providing opportunities for Catholic Professionals to engage in fellowship, catechesis, service, and philanthropy.  Now, everyone has different reasons for joining an organization like this.  The survey results centered around 2 main ones; “to grow in your faith” or “to meet other Catholics/network”.

Now, I submit to you, what better way to do either of these but to begin to serve.  You can always find opportunities in a leadership role for the CBL, offering your help to other CBL members, or serving your colleagues at work by being a better Christian.

Jesus upset the world’s vision of power and might.  It was a ”counter-cultural” message to tell people to die to themselves so they can serve other people.  Our natural human instinct is to protect ourselves and what is ours.  Our society reinforces it every day with a message of consumerism and self-centeredness.

But, Jesus’ (and God prophets through the centuries) message is not meant to enslave us, but set us free.  God is telling us to fight against our human nature and serve each other before ourselves.  I am sure you have seen the benefit of others doing just that.  But, what you don’t see is the internal rewards of peace and love that occur in the giver.  This is God’s promised reward for the fight.  It works every time.