A word from Luke today about complacency. Jesus asks if we had a slave who had spent the day working in the fields, would we invite him to sit down, have his supper and take a good rest? Or would we not rather tell him first to prepare his master's supper and, after the master had eaten his fill, only then would the slave be able to eat and rest? Would we even express gratitude to a servant who was only doing what was expected of him?

Jesus is not saying that this is the right way to treat servants. The point Jesus is making is that God need never be grateful to us for anything we do for Him. No matter how much we do for Him, we can never put Him in our debt. Everything we give to God (or to God through others) is simply giving back to Him a small portion of what He has already given us.

Perhaps that is what some of the Pharisees thought. They felt that, because they kept the Law perfectly, God owed them salvation. We Catholics can be like that ourselves when, for instance, we think that by saying certain prayers or performing certain acts (novenas, indulgences, pilgrimages, etc) God should jump to attention and do what we are telling Him. We can never be grateful enough to Him for showing us the way to truth, love, freedom and happiness and for giving us the grace to walk His way.