Serving Others

John 12: 24-26 “Jesus said to his disciples:”Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.”

Jesus brings up a very important thing to put into practice for the addict to remain sober, i.e. doing service work. One might read this passage with a narrow focus that Jesus was only referring to serving Him through prayer and attending Church service on Sunday. These activities of prayer and worship are most certainly very important to serving Jesus, but Jesus also says that to serve Him we must follow Him. At the Last Supper Jesus showed his disciples, and showed all of us, by washing the feet of his disciples that to follow him meant to serve others. In fact, at the conclusion of the Mass the priest tells the people “to go in peace to love and serve the Lord by loving and serving one another.” Another important defense for the addict to develop a life of service to others is that it helps the addict live out the Third Step prayer. By learning to serve others, the addict can be relieved of “the bondage of self”. Any addict that is honestly working their steps can attest that selfishness is a root character defect that keeps them enslaved to resentments and out of healthy relationships with others. By learning to serve another without expecting something in return is a pathway to peace and freedom. Finding service opportunities does not need to be something grand. In fact, many of the Saints, like Saint Andre Bessette, was given many graces from God to heal the sick performing a seemingly mundane task of being a porter. Being willing to serve others in simple ways, like being a treasurer or making the coffee for a 12 Step meeting, or becoming an usher or Lector at Church, can open up the grace from God to allow you to do miraculous things.