From Psalm 82 (81), 3-4: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Defend the weak and the orphan; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pope Francis said: \u201cTo serve is not an expression of politeness: it is to do as Jesus did, who, summing up His life in a few words, said that He came \u00abnot to be served, but to serve\u00bb (Mk 10:45). Thus said the Lord. Therefore, if we want to follow Jesus, we must travel the path that He Himself traced out, the path of service. Our fidelity to the Lord depends on our willingness to serve. And this, we know, costs, because it ‘tastes of the cross’. But, as our care and availability toward others grow, we become freer inside, more like Jesus. The more we serve, the more we sense the presence of God. Especially when we serve those who have nothing to give us in return, the poor, embracing their difficulties and needs with tender compassion: and there we discover that we, in turn, are loved and embraced by God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA person’s value no longer depends on the role they hold, the success they achieve, the job they do, or the money they have in the bank; no, no, it does not depend on that; greatness and success, in God’s eyes, have a different measure: they are measured by service. Not by what one has, but by what one gives. Do you want to be first? Serve. This is the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cServe your neighbor without using your neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Service is a gratuitous and selfless act. For a volunteer, it is a life imperative. And when this neighbor of yours is marginalized, despised, destitute, and service appears difficult, what do you do? How do you behave? When you have to touch dirty hands with your own, smelling bodies, brothers and sisters who have let themselves go, what do you do? How do you behave?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mother Teresa of Calcutta found strength in Jesus, because she saw and served her Lord precisely in those brothers and sisters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our journey will be truer, more concrete, and ever more beautiful if we gird our loins with a towel and wash the feet of our brothers and sisters.<\/p>\n\n\n\nServing, this is the way<\/h2>\n\n\n\n