“Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others.” - Phil. 2:4
MERRILLVILLE – Ministry leaders from throughout the Diocese of Gary and beyond were urged to serve their neighbors “with the heart of Jesus” at a spiritual retreat hosted on March 15.
“Have the attitude that was in Jesus. He emptied himself and became a servant to the needs of the people” while living on Earth,” said Father Cesar Cajetan Arras, CR, a member of the Theatine Order of Regular Clerics who presented the bilingual retreat, “Renewing the Heart of the Servant” at the Pastoral Center.
Father Arras explained that St. Paul “talks about having the same mind as Jesus. Christ loved, Christ served, Christ gave his life and yet he was rejected.
“Christ served out of love, not for recognition, gratitude or praise,” added Father Arras. “Serving does not always come naturally to our hearts, if we are honest.
“Why do we serve, because people seem to enjoy it, because we are appreciated, because we are recognized or because it gives us power? Or (do we serve) because we are imitating Christ?” he asked.
Sandra Shrall, a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Valparaiso, said the message she received is that lay leaders “are volunteering for God, for the Church, and because you want the next generation to have the same opportunities you did to know God.” She said she and her husband, Mark Shrall, participate in the Marriage Prep Ministry at their parish.
Father Arras opened his presentation with a welcome to more than two dozen attendees, then offered his message in English. At the same time, Spanish-speaking participants spent an hour in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and had the opportunity for confession. The two groups then switched, with the priest from the Diocese of Grand Rapids (Michigan) presenting in Spanish as the English speakers prayed silently in the chapel with the Holy Eucharist exposed.
Yvonne Postelmans, a Hammond resident and bilingual parishioner at St. James the Less in Highland, chose to listen to Father Arras’ presentation in both languages. “I want to experience the differences in Spanish and English,” she said, explaining that she previously attended a retreat in Spanish that was “very passionate and more in-depth” than her experience with English-language programming. “We were told to repent, and some words were very harsh. Lessons in English are more passive, and when I started to read a Spanish-language Bible, it was not the same wording as used in the English-language Bible.
“I want to learn more about my faith and I need to explore my roots to become a better disciple,” added Postelmans, who is teaching a faith formation class for ages 13-14 this year for the first time. “They have lots of questions.”
Father Arras said all Catholics “serve in the Church one way or another, by having a ministry or witnessing God’s love, possibly through marriage, where the first ministry is to love through the love of God.
“All that serving is not always easy; sometimes it fills the heart with joy, but not always. Our efforts may not be appreciated. (You may ask) why do I serve the Church? It is not about strategies, not about leadership, but about the need to go deeper,” said Father Arras.
He urged the ministry leaders to have “a transformed heart. Jesus came above all to heal the human heart so that we may love as he loves.
Father Arras used as an example of a transformed heart “a (non-Catholic) man who falls in love with a Catholic woman, marries in the Church and pledges to raise their children as Catholics, then decides he might as well join the Church. Later, he has an encounter with Christ and becomes active in the Church.”
A servant becomes a servant, he added, “because he was loved by the second person of the Most Holy Trinity.
“We can have meetings, projects and activities, but without heart, because we don’t do it with the heart of Jesus, we don’t realize we are doing something that is greater than us,” said Father Arras. “God doesn’t call those who are qualified; he qualifies those he calls. The apostles were not wealthy men of power; they were fishermen. ‘I will teach you,’ said Jesus.”
Jesus did not come to Earth to dominate; he came to serve, reminded Father Arras. “He came to wash the feet of others and that’s what he calls us to do.
God has given us infinite love and infinite grace, said Father Arras, “(So) how could we not offer small acts of service to others? The Church needs people who recognize, organize, coordinate and lead, but most of all people with hearts of service. It is not an easy task, but those who have it reflect Christ.”
Father Arras offered three questions for lay leaders to reflect upon:
1. When I serve my Church or community, what truly motivates my heart – recognition or Christ?
2. In what concrete way might the Lord be inviting me to grow in the life of a servant?
3. When I contemplate Christ, what aspect of his example speaks most deeply to my own life of service?
“We should always be thinking of how to bring people to love God and love their neighbor, to understand their baptism better, even if it is not in a catechetical group,” said Father Arras. “Jesus doesn’t ask for perfection. He wants to heal the blind man where he is. Jesus came to heal the human heart so we may love as he loves.”
The retreat ended with a potluck dinner featuring a variety of ethnic dishes and lively conversation.
“In ministry you are always giving, giving, giving,” Rosanne Kouris, diocesan marriage and family life coordinator, told the lay ministers. “This is a time for you to renew yourself.”
Caption: “Renewing the Heart of the Servant” was the theme of the spiritual retreat presented by Father Cesar Cajetan Arras, CR, a priest in the Order of Clerics Regular, in the Diocese of Gary on March 15. Here, Father Arras speaks to Spanish-speaking participants while English speakers spent time in adoration to the Holy Eucharist. The two groups gathered at the end to share a potluck dinner. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
