Daily Catholic Lectio
Tue, 11 Nov ‘25
Thirty-Second Week in Ordinary Time, Tuesday
Wisdom of Solomon 2:23-3:9. Luke 17:7-10
On being Useless Servants
The words of Jesus in today’s Gospel can sound difficult: “When you have done all you were commanded, say, ‘We are useless servants; we have only done our duty.’” He is not dismissing our dignity. He is showing us the freedom and truth of discipleship.
(a) The Paradox of being ‘Useless’
Jesus is not calling our work meaningless. He is asking us to stand before God without entitlement. In the eyes of the world, worth is measured by results, achievements, praise, recognition. In the Kingdom, worth is rooted in grace. Everything we have—our life, our talents, our opportunities—is gift. When we serve, we are simply returning to God what already belongs to Him. In that sense, we are “useless”—not because we have no value, but because God does not need us; He loves us.
(b) Freedom from the Hunger for Praise
Much of our inner turmoil comes from wanting appreciation. A message we send, a help we offer, a task we complete—we wait for approval. When it is withheld, we feel wounded. The Gospel invites us to rise above this. A servant who expects thanks becomes a slave to people’s opinion. A servant who expects nothing becomes free—free to work, free to love, free to give without calculation.
(c) Doing Our Duty with a Clean Heart
A servant in Jesus’ parable returns from the field tired, sunburnt, and hungry. Yet he does not demand praise. He completes what is still his responsibility. In our daily lives, duties pile up: family roles, ministry commitments, professional responsibilities. They do not end with applause; they simply continue. But God sees the hidden labour, the silent sacrifices, the unacknowledged goodness. We may feel “useless” in the eyes of others, but we are precious in His sight.
(d) Guarding against the Addiction to Work
To be a ‘useless servant’ is not to be endlessly busy. Work can become an escape or an identity. When activity becomes our measure of worth, we lose our centre. Our value lies not in what we do, but in who we are—children held in God’s hand, as today’s reading from Wisdom beautifully says. Service must flow from a heart rooted in God, not from a restless need to prove ourselves.
(e) The Grace of Detachment
The Bhagavad Gita speaks of nishkama karma—doing duty without craving the fruit. Jesus takes us even deeper: Not only must we avoid clinging to results; we must avoid clinging to ourselves.
Detachment is not indifference. It is interior freedom. It is the confidence of knowing that God is the Master, and we are His joyful servants.
6. Becoming ‘Useless’ in the Beautiful Way
To say “I am a useless servant” is an act of faith and humility. It means:
I do not place myself at the centre.
I do not demand repayment for love given.
I do not measure my service by human praise.
I recognise that everything I achieve is by God’s grace.
I allow Him, not myself, to be the source and goal of my work.
Paradoxically, when we embrace this spirit of “uselessness,” God makes our lives deeply fruitful.
The “useless” servant becomes the most useful instrument in God’s hands because his heart is free of pride, comparison, and expectation.
May the Lord give us the humility to serve without counting, the freedom to love without looking back, and the joy to say at the end of each day: “I have only done what was mine to do. The rest is Yours, Lord.”
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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