The Hope of Holy Servants

Wis 2:23—3:9; Psalm: 33; Lk 17:7-10

Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, on this Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, the great soldier who became a monk and a bishop, the Word of God offers us a profound lesson in perspective. It lifts our eyes to the eternal destiny of the just, while grounding our hearts in the humble, faithful service that prepares us for it.

The beautiful passage from the Book of Wisdom provides a heavenly lens through which to view human suffering and death. To the world, the death of the righteous can seem a tragedy, a failure, a defeat. But God’s word reveals the stunning truth: “The souls of the just are in the hand of God… They are in peace.” What appears as punishment is, in God’s eyes, a purification. “As gold in the furnace, he proved them,” and their final state is one of eternal life, happiness, and peace. They will “judge nations and rule over peoples,” for the Lord is their King forever. This is our ultimate hope: not the avoidance of trial, but the promise of glory for those who remain faithful through it.

This glorious destiny, however, is not won through grand achievements that earn God’s favor, but through the faithful, often unnoticed, service described in the Gospel. Jesus presents a parable about a servant who, after laboring in the field all day, is expected to prepare supper and serve his master before he can rest and eat himself. The master does not thank the servant for doing what was commanded. Jesus concludes, “When you have done all you have been commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.’”

This is not a lesson in harshness, but in humility and the true nature of our relationship with God. We can never put God in our debt. Our faithful service—our prayer, our works of mercy, our daily duties—is simply our baseline response to the infinite grace we have already received. It is what we are “obliged to do” as followers of Christ. The focus is not on earning a reward, but on fulfilling our identity as God’s faithful servants.

Saint Martin of Tours embodies the beautiful harmony of these two readings. He was a man who saw the eternal value of a soul, famously cutting his cloak in two to share with a beggar, whom he later discovered was Christ. He left the world’s honors to live as a monk, and was later called to be a bishop—a role he accepted not as a promotion, but as a new form of service. He understood that his life was not his own; he was a servant of God and of His people. He lived with the hope of the just, which gave him the freedom to be a humble, “unprofitable servant” on earth.

The comfort for us is immense. In our suffering, we can cling to the hope of Wisdom—that our trials have meaning and our end is peace in God’s hand. In our service, we are freed from the anxiety of earning salvation. We simply do our duty out of love, trusting in God’s promise.

As Saint Thérèse of Lisieux said, “Everything is a grace.” Our task is to receive it and respond in loving service.

So, let us go forth today with the hope of the just in our hearts and the humility of a servant in our hands. Let us perform our daily duties, especially the hidden ones, with great love, trusting that the Master who served us first will one day say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father.” Amen.

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.