10 November 2026 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” Luke 17:10
Jesus' little parable cuts against our instinct to keep score with God. A servant who has ploughed and tended sheep all day does not expect his master to serve him supper. He simply does his duty. “Worthless” here means “owed nothing”: we cannot put God in our debt. Everything good we do is already his gift. This is not a humiliation but a freedom: we serve out of love, not to earn a wage.
Paul tells Titus why Christians live soberly and generously: “the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all”, training us to renounce impiety and live upright lives “while we wait for the blessed hope”. St Leo the Great, Pope in the 5th century, served the Church in exactly this spirit: he defended the truth that Christ is one Person in two natures (Council of Chalcedon, 451) and met Attila the Hun to protect Rome. His Christmas sermon still rings out: “Christian, remember your dignity.”
Theme: “Grace, not wages.”
The grace of God has appeared; we serve freely, without keeping score.
“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined.” Isaiah 9:2
“And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
Apply: Thank God for one grace you did not earn.
“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8
“For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” Luke 22:27
Apply: Choose one act of kindness and justice today.
“What shall I return to the LORD for all his bounty to me?” Psalm 116:12
“So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” Luke 17:10
Apply: Serve someone today without telling anyone.
All is grace.
We serve because we are loved.
Take-home resolution: Read St Leo's Christmas sermon (Office of Readings, 25 Dec).
Dear friends, Jesus tells a short parable that cuts against our habit of keeping score with God. A servant who has worked all day in the field does not expect his master to serve him supper. So we too, when we have done all we were told, should say: we are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty (Luke 17:10).
Unworthy here means owed nothing. We cannot put God in our debt. Every good thing we do is already his gift. This is not a humiliation but a freedom: we serve out of love, not to earn a wage, and so we are never disappointed.
Paul tells Titus why: the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for the blessed hope (Titus 2:11–13). Grace is not only a gift to receive but a teacher to follow.
Today we honour St Leo the Great, Pope, who defended the truth that Christ is true God and true man, and who faced Attila with nothing but prayer. Let us serve today without counting, and thank God for the privilege of serving at all. Amen.
Children, we do good not to get a prize but because we love Jesus. Help at home today without being asked!
Lord God, everything I have is your gift. Teach me to serve without keeping score, to live soberly and justly as I wait for the blessed hope, and to remember with St Leo the dignity you have given me in Christ. Amen.
This week the first readings come from four short letters: Titus, Philemon and the second and third letters of John. Today Paul tells Titus how each group in a Christian household should live, and gives the reason: “the grace of God has appeared”. The Gospel balances this: when we have done everything, we are still servants who have only done our duty. Good works are the fruit of grace, not a claim on God.
Setting.
Titus, a Gentile companion of Paul, was left in Crete to put the young Churches in order and appoint elders in every town (1:5). The letter is one of the three Pastoral Letters (with 1 and 2 Timothy). After warning against false teachers, Paul turns to what Titus must teach the members of the community.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all” (2:11)
These verses are read at the Mass during the Night of Christmas. The grace that appeared in the manger is the same grace that shapes ordinary family life.
“while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.” (2:13)
In Greek one article governs both titles, and the most natural reading, which the NRSV follows, calls Jesus Christ himself “our great God and Savior”. The POC renders it as two names, “of our great God and of the Savior Jesus Christ”, which the Greek also allows. Many Fathers and modern scholars take the first reading, which makes this one of the clearest New Testament witnesses to the divinity of Christ.
How the Church reads it.
St Leo the Great, whose memorial is today, preached on Christmas Day: “Christian, recognise your dignity”, now that you share in the divine nature (CCC 1691). That is Paul’s argument to Titus: a new way of life follows from the grace that has appeared.
Setting.
Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem. He has just told the apostles that even faith as small as a mustard seed can do great things (17:5–6). Now he guards them against a hidden danger: thinking that their service puts God in their debt.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded?” (17:9)
“So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” (17:10)
This is not the whole picture. Elsewhere Jesus says the master will fasten his belt and serve his watchful servants himself (12:37). We cannot claim a reward; God gives it as a gift.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism teaches that before God we have no strict right to any merit; our merits are themselves gifts of his grace (CCC 2007–2011). It closes that teaching with the words of St Thérèse of Lisieux, who wished to appear before God with empty hands, trusting in his love and not in her works.
Does Luke 17:10 mean our good works do not matter?
No. Good works matter a great deal and God rewards them. But they are done by his grace, so we bring them to him as children, not as creditors.
St Leo the Great was Pope from 440 to 461. His letter on the two natures of Christ, the Tome to Flavian, was read at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, and he went out in person to meet Attila the Hun in 452 to plead for Italy. He is a Doctor of the Church. His Christmas sermons echo today’s first reading.