In these times it might not be wise to treat servants the way Jesus suggests in today's Gospel. Those hearing Jesus' words, however, would have regarded such an attitude as perfectly normal. Jesus, of course, is not teaching us how to treat servants; he is saying something much more important. Sometimes we may feel that, because we have been trying so hard to be 'good Catholics' God should be treating us better than he does. But we need to realise that God can never be in our debt. He never owes us anything. No matter how much we do for Him, we are only paying back in a tiny way all that He gives us. As the First Letter of John reminds us, it is not we that have loved God first. He is the one who has poured out and continues to pour out his love on us. Our task is to open our hearts to that love and let it flow through us and beyond us to others. And there will never be a time when we cannot do it better.