Servant of the Servants of God
Building the Kingdom in Humble Service
The Mass of Saint Gregory the Great, painted by Adriaen Ysenbrandt (1480-1551), circa 1520, Oil on panel, © The Getty Museum, Los Angeles. Christian.Art
Today is the Feast of Saint Gregory the Great (Pope and Doctor of the Church), and it is a day that speaks to me personally, for my name is Gregore (Greg). Gregory was a man of wealth and power who chose to live differently—he gave away privilege to serve, turned his family home into a monastery, and later, as pope, poured the Church’s resources into the poor and the vulnerable.
I am 53. I am not yet at my third age, but I know many are in our Cardijn Community. Like me, they come from the middle class. They have worked hard, saved wisely, and built stable lives for their families.
And now, many are asking:
What should I do with what I have accumulated?
Should it all go to my children, who live reasonably secure, middle-class lives?
Or should some of it be given back to the poor, to those who have never had the same opportunities, to causes that will outlive us?
Saint Gregory challenges us. He did not cling to his wealth. He used it to build the Kingdom of God in practical, tangible ways—feeding the hungry, freeing captives, caring for the forgotten. His example reminds me that resources, whether little or much, are not ours to keep. They are entrusted to us to serve.
As a member of the Cardijn Community, I ask myself—and I invite all of us to ask—how will we use what we have been given? Not just now, while we live, but also in what we choose to leave behind. Will our legacy be simply comfort for our children, or will it also be generosity that continues to build God’s Kingdom long after we are gone?
Today, I pray that like Saint Gregory the Great, I may learn to hold what I have lightly, to share it freely, and to let my life—and even my wealth—speak of service, faith, and love.