In the journey of our Christian faith, I believe that one of the most precious rewards would be hearing the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” These words were spoken by Jesus in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:21) and I believe were recently spoken to our dear friend Barbara Sumi. Many of us hope and pray that we will hear these words from our Lord when we come face to face with Him. As Christians, we are called to honor the gifts and opportunities God has entrusted to us and seek ways to glorify Him in all we do. Barbara faithfully used her gifts and talents to serve our Lord right up until her very last days.
The core of the phrase highlights the importance of using what God has given us wisely and diligently. In Matthew 25, the servants who were praised were those who took what their master had entrusted to them and multiplied it. They didn’t sit idle or waste the resources but worked to increase them for their master’s glory. God has uniquely given each of us gifts and talents to leverage and He also gives us opportunities to utilize them. For Barbara, she loved numbers and keeping them in order. Barbara did a great job serving our Via De Cristo community as our treasurer on the Secretariat. Barbara used her time and skills to balance the books and manage our accounts. She took her role seriously and was joyful and passionate about it.
Via De Cristo is one of many ways in life to be intentional with a servant’s heart. Within the Via De Cristo framework, we know there are so many ways to utilize our God-given gifts. Some of these examples include serving on teams, serving as community, praying, singing, donating, mentoring, sponsoring, encouraging, various forms of palanca, and so many more. Serving is fun and rewarding. The wide variety of different ways to be involved is one of the things that I appreciate about our ministry. There’s a quote I like which states, “True growth happens outside of your comfort zone.” This certainly has been true for me in many ways. Sometimes we step out of our comfort zones and do things we didn’t know we could do through God’s guidance.
To hear the words “Well done, my good and faithful servant” is the highest honor we can receive. It signifies that we utilized our gifts and talents for God and others. Each day is an opportunity to live in a way that reflects the heart of Christ by serving with humility and faith. Barbara served as a positive role model for all of us in this respect by being passionate and consistent with what she chose to invest her time and energy. I encourage each of us to be intentional with our gifts of time and talents so that we all may hear these words one day and to know that that our lives have brought glory to God.
GLY&SDI
Jeff Walk