Lenten Day of Recollection- March 15, 2025

The sun was shining and breeze blowing the morning of March 15, 2025 at St. Jude Church in Tequesta. Twenty-three Community members gathered to meditate on a spiritual reflection by Deacon Joe O'Connell, an open opportunity for reconciliation and celebrate Mass. Rector Alex Gonzalez opened the morning with prayer and Deacon Joe's message about diakonia – Humbly Serving Others was thought provoking and helped attendees reflect on their Lenten journey.

One day I watched a nurse gently take the socks off of an elderly patient, and begin to massage her feet, and then carefully rub them with lotion. The tender way in which the nurse spoke with her patient, carefully taking off the socks, lovingly addressing her patient the entire time so that she would not feel embarrassed, and truly making the patient feel that she really wanted to be doing this, touched me in a special way. I got the sense that the nurse truly cared about what she was doing. This was not simply a job to her, but a tender act of love. This is truly the essence of diakonia – humbly serving others.

Now this talk is not about being a deacon, or a commercial for others to become deacons. Diakonia is a Greek word that means service, ministering, especially by those who have authority over others. It comes from the word diakonos meaning servant. Now all of us are familiar with the Cursillo 3 step process of “Make a friend, Be a friend, Bring a friend to Christ.” Well in order to do any of those steps, we first have to be Christ to them, we have to do as Christ did. In Mark 10:43-44 Jesus says, “Whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all.” Humbly and lovingly serving one another is a sign of greatness in the eyes of God.

I’m not talking about serving another for any type of recognition, nor am I talking about serving another grudgingly out of a sense of duty. Jesus was emphasizing that our service to others should come solely out of our love for others; serving others with humility, while preserving their dignity and honor; serving solely because we want to imitate our Lord and treat others the way He treated them.

Nowadays those who hold positions of authority or power over others expect to be waited on and served by them. We work our way up the “ladder of success” so that we are in a higher position expecting others to listen, do as they are told, and serve us. This is considered a sign that we have succeeded in the world.

Living Christlike, living as a Cursillista, has a different perspective of success. It compels us to serve others, to humbly become more like Jesus, a servant who compassionately reached out to all those who came to Him and who even washed the feet of His closest followers as we read in John 13:4-5 “He rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples feet and dry them with the towel around his waist.” Even though the disciples had lived with Jesus for three years, listening to all his teachings and watching the way he compassionately interacted with everyone, still they were shocked to see Jesus get up from dinner and do the work of a slave by washing their dirty feet. Peter was so confused and shocked that he refused to allow Jesus to disgrace himself in front of his friends. However, this act of humility and love exemplified the divine mission of Jesus and set an example the disciples would never forget.

When we roll up our sleeves and meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of others we mirror God’s love to a world that desperately needs it. Think of Jesus feeding the multitudes of people. They were hungry, he didn’t just teach them, he fed them also. When we serve others, we’re serving Jesus.

In Matthew 25:40 Jesus says “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Serving others isn’t about perfection; it’s about showing up with love. It’s one of the most tangible ways we can reflect Christ’s love in the world. It’s messy, rewarding, exhausting, time consuming, and joy filled all at once.

It's messy - we don’t know what we may have to clean up

Rewarding – bringing comfort to someone and putting a smile on their face

Exhausting – it requires physical effort on our part usually

Time consuming – all our lives are busy and hectic

Joy filled – this is the best part, seeing the joy in the person you helped and also feeling the joy in our own heart knowing that God used me as his instrument to bring joy and comfort to someone else.

Have you ever helped someone and walked away feeling worse? I don’t think so, because serving others plugs us directly into God’s purpose for our lives.

In Acts 20:35 Jesus is quoted as saying “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Serving keeps us grounded by shifting our focus from “me to we”. It reminds us that life isn’t about accumulating stuff but about relationships and love. It humbles us, grows our empathy, and definitely fills us with joy.

As you can see, my brothers and sisters, diakonia is not about being ordained. It is a way of life, giving of our self over to Our Lord Jesus by following his words in Mark 10:45 “For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…”. We’re all familiar with that passage and we would rather give than receive. As I look out at all of you, I see givers, but in order for any of us to give, someone else has to receive. Life throws us many curve balls and there are times even the givers need help, but most of us are very bad at receiving. We feel embarrassed. Yet even Jesus and his disciples received help. We read in Luke 8:1-3 how “many women provided for them out of their resources.” Jesus allowed them to serve him, who are we to refuse help when we need it. Diakonia is about humbly serving others by being Christ to them and seeing Christ in them. Diakonia is also about humbly allowing others to be Christ to us, and allowing them to see Christ in us. Giving them the same opportunity to feel the joy we feel when we help someone.

Before I go to see someone, I ask God to send the Holy Spirit to help me; then when I’m finished, I thank God for using me as his instrument and filling my heart with his Grace, his joy. Each of us is called to live Diakonia, to live selflessly not selfishly, as we read in Gal 5:13 “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge in the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

Diakonia - Humbly and lovingly serving one another is truly a sign of greatness in the eyes of God.