The two readings presented for our reflection this weekend are taken from the Acts of the Apostles and Mark’s Gospel. The theme and the message conveyed by these two readings seem obvious to me: to be a follower of Jesus we must be people who always think about “service to others.”

The passage from Acts highlights the fact that very early in the Church it was recognized that there was a need for assistants. Not assistants at the various worship services but, rather, assistants who could help carry out the basic mission of the Church: help and support for others.

The account in Acts highlights the fact that seven men were chosen to be deacons, that is men who would devote their lives to the service of others. Even to this day, the role of a deacon is to be of service, in a special way, to others besides assisting in the celebration of liturgical services.

But being of service to others is not something that Christ ever envisioned to be limited to just a few. We see how Jesus lived. Besides teaching, He was focused on helping others in need. This was, and still is, the hallmark of a true Christian Church and something we must constantly think about trying to incorporate into our community.

Mark’s Gospel, highlights one of the primary ways to be of Christian service to others, namely to bury the dead. In fact the act of burying the dead is considered one of the seven corporal works of mercy. For your edification, here are the seven acts that are considered to be corporal works of mercy. They are to: feed the hungry; give drink to the thirsty; clothe the naked; give shelter to the homeless; visit the sick; ransom the captive; and bury the dead. If you every wonder what you could do to become more like Christ, you could do one or more of the above.

To this I would like to add that we can build God’s Kingdom here and now if we also take the time to recognize those who serve us.  Too frequently in our society we seem to discount those who provide us a service, especially those jobs that don’t require a professional degree. Just taking time to recognize a server, can do a lot to build God’s Kingdom and increase the self-worth of someone who does provide service.

What is important, however, is why we do these things. We engage in such acts of mercy in order to build God’s Kingdom and make His love and kindness a part of our world