Ever feel like there’s “too much day in the time” and yet still hard to find time to pray?
Let me introduce you to the man the Church celebrates today, Pope St. Gregory the Great. He’s one of those towering figures of the Church, he’s “great” after all, who you likely still know little to nothing about.
A quick recap: he was a sixth-century pope, living in the chaos of the crumbling Roman Empire. Gregory started out as a government official in Rome. He was successful, wealthy, and respected, but he gave it up to live as a monk. Even then, he wasn’t left in peace; God kept calling him into leadership. Eventually, and still against his desires, he became pope.
Gregory experienced the same tension between a desire for prayer and peace and the demands of vocation and ministry that many of us do. You’d like to spend more time with God, but the emails, the kids, the bills, and the projects don’t stop. Gregory reminds us that holiness isn’t found in escaping those responsibilities, it’s found in carrying them faithfully, even when we’d prefer something else.
One of Gregory’s best lessons is his insistence that leaders, whether popes, pastors, or dads, are first and foremost “servants.” He even coined the title “Servant of the servants of God,” which we still use today to describe the Pope. That phrase wasn’t just a nice slogan. It was his way of life, and what he was able to offer to God.
At home, at work, in your parish, God is giving you chances to lead. Leadership means service. It means washing the dishes without being asked. It means setting aside the phone when your kid wants your attention. It means putting the needs of others first, not because it’s glamorous, but because it’s love.
That’s the call for us too: to be steady, humble servants of God and our families, even, and maybe especially, when life is messy and demanding. In those moments, with the intercession of Pope St. Gregory the Great, ask Christ the servant to work alongside you, and to make your work a worthy prayer to the Father.
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I love this talk and ran across it in my email, a positive form of click bait, yes. Thank you for your participation and contributions in supporting men's growth. The issue I am struggling with is that indeed "Holiness is silence" (In reference to the title of the article), Holiness may require dying to ones self for the purpose of loving God and loving others. To be a steady, humble servants of God, servant leader to our families and community you absolutely need prayer, silent prayer, deep prayer and adoration to God and His Laws. Make time to pray, embrace the silence with God and all other things in life will fall into place (Service without prayer is unguided, service, No matter how chaotic life gets, there is always time to pray). Make it your priority.
Thank you for this Chris.