Happy are those who serve the Lord

Oct 20, 2023

“Open this gate now!” shouts a parishioner to a migrant guard. Soon after, as the church was starting to fill up, another angry voice is heard, “don’t teach me how to park, you don’t even know how to drive!”; “Yuck, her singing is atrocious — the psalm was so bad. Why does she even think she can sing?” a lady in the front pew whispers to her husband. The sacristan too is often an easy target — whenever anything goes wrong, it’s possibly his fault. “He’s not adequately trained, he’s getting too old, let’s just make him redundant.” Never mind the countless years that he has been serving the church. All is forgotten because those “in the hot seats” call the shots on who goes and who stays. What about the cleaners, the hired staff who clean day in and day out to make our short stay in God’s house pleasant?

Yet these cheerful souls continue to serve the Lord, and God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:6) Oftentimes, these are not the ones who malign or judge you, until we really get under their skin. They are human too, lest we forget. Yet how quickly and easily people who serve in church are judged and injudiciously neglected, especially by those who have somehow assumed “high positions” in church ? we can all suddenly find friends in ‘high’ places.

Look at that fellow teaching Catechism – who does he think he is? He’s probably leading the children astray, his life isn’t exactly spotless, eeek – he even looks like a sinner! What was the parish priest even thinking?! And yet that dedicated catechist spends hours on a Friday night reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church alongside slides he had prepared a year ahead, printing worksheets, designing games and quizzes to ensure that our children are ‘engaged’ and can fully participate in the faith. He’s the one addressing the difficult issues posed by the learners, whether with LGBTQ issues or paedophilia. He’s defending the faith, like the sweeper, the cleaner and the guard — they simply make our stay pleasant.

Another catechist devotes her Saturdays to cutting up coloured papers for art and craft activities which she incorporates into her lessons…she enters the classroom with the biggest smile on her face despite bearing the trials of being a single mother and having to care for a disabled child at home, an ageing parent, worrying about the next meal and how to make ends meet. Strangely, these are the people heeding the call to serve. Jesus reminds us that tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way to Heaven; let’s really ask ourselves whether we are getting to know the right people.

Like the exhausted yet dedicated RCIA leader who prepares the deep discourses to present to adults who are seeking to convert — he is indeed obeying the command of Jesus to share the Good News.

We learn so much when we stop to reflect on what really goes into “giving our best to the Lord” through the work (and lives) of these people. There’s the old choir leader, with no professional music background — she meditates on the readings before selecting the hymns that best reflect the message of the week. Sometimes she must work along the constraints of music equipment and sound systems, a faulty mixer, old microphones, but she tries and people like her deliver, every time! They dress up, stand up and show up, for you and me, whether it’s for a funeral or a wedding. The cantor, despite having sung in the choir for over 20 years, continues to have sweaty palms and mild palpitations each time she hears the end of the First Reading — as she approaches the lectern, she silently prays… “O Lord, please use me as your instrument to touch the hearts of your people present here today through this psalm…” The choir members and musicians spend hours practising (try learning a new tune at the age of 65!), some playing the songs on repeat at home for an entire week just to ‘get it right’. And while they come with their gifts for Mass, they also bring with them their brokenness, their sicknesses, their past hurts. Yet it seldom shows. God comes first, always. He will heal the brokenness, the sicknesses, the hurts…in His time. Have we stopped to ‘hear their brokenness’….it has a story too.

When was the last time we stopped to speak to an altar server? Every foot that steps forward, every gesture, every action is calculated — there is a rhythm and beat to follow in ensuring they exude a reverence throughout the Mass. “What if I drop the ciborium, or trip on my vestment? What if the thurible carrying the incense tips over and coal is strewn all over the altar?” The anxiety is real. And yet they remain calm and composed…guided always by the Lord, trusting that it is okay to make mistakes…God allows it. In an age where children face so much competition to outperform at school in studies and extracurricular activities (the endless pursuit for PAJSK marks for those in public schools), these young boys (and now girls) spend their weekends practising, to serve the Lord as best as they can.

What about the friendly hospitality ministers who greet us — are they the only ones who are supposed to smile and reach out? Can we participate in the Socity of St Vincent de Paul activities at our parish or is our contribution limited to paying toward the weekly collection?

Do you know an altar lady in church? She drove all the way to town at 6.00am this morning to select the freshest flowers that arrived from Cameron Highlands and at wholesale price just to save the church some money. She was pricked by quite a few thorns while arranging the large bouquets of flowers, and yet she returned home past midnight on a Friday filled with immense joy and warmth in her heart, knowing that she has done her part to beautify the church for the weekend.

At almost every Mass, these ministries plead for parishioners to join them as catechists, altar servers, singers and musicians, altar ladies, commentators, lectors…we will never be “ready”, and there will never be a “right time” for now is the time… if we’re waiting for God’s voice or a text message from Heaven to invite us to serve, it was indeed in the announcement you heard, or from a casual chat with a friend who simply said “come join us next week”.

COME just as you are, with all your inhibitions, your sorrows, your anxieties, your sins, your brokenness, and just give it all to the Lord. All of Scripture teaches us that God oftentimes calls the unqualified as he qualifies them later.

There is so much we can do online, the vineyard is plenty, the workers are few. Publications like HERALD and CANews need you if you are willing to volunteer, so too with other mission fields like AOHD and the like. Maybe you are waiting for the ‘big call’. Let’s remember what St Theresa of Calcutta said: “to do small things with great love” and God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:6-8)

…meanwhile, perhaps we fear the ridicules, the insults, the judgements, the sacrifices we have to make, or the most common of all, that we are simply inadequate to serve. Let God be the judge, everything else matters not. He knows who to draw to Himself and He ALONE knows our fullest potential. Indeed, happy are those who serve the Lord!

(Professor Joanne Lim shares the faith in Catechism and music in Church. She is Deputy Dean and lectures on media and society at the University of Nottingham Malaysia)