# The Master Has Need of It - Bishop Barron's Daily Sermon

An episode of [Daily Sermons With Bishop Robert Barron](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/6783446284), 24 Aug 2026, 14 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/73911055/the_master_has_need_of_it_bishop_barron_s_sunday_sermon.mp3



## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Peace be with you. We come today to Palm Sunday,
[0:03] Speaker 1: the beginning of the holiest week of the year, and
[0:06] Speaker 1: of course we read it Mass the wonderful Passion narrative.
[0:10] Speaker 1: But I want to focus today not on the passion narrative,
[0:12] Speaker 1: but on the gospel that we proclaim just before the
[0:16] Speaker 1: procession with Palms, the very beginning of Mass. Many years ago,
[0:22] Speaker 1: I saw a Mass card, so a little card that
[0:24] Speaker 1: a young priest, a new priest puts out as a
[0:27] Speaker 1: sign of his day, and it's usually on the card
[0:29] Speaker 1: a little motto. And I was very struck by this
[0:33] Speaker 1: card because here was the motto, the Master has need
[0:38] Speaker 1: of it. That was it. And I've seen one thousand mottos,
[0:43] Speaker 1: you know, for first Masses. I had never seen that
[0:47] Speaker 1: the Master has need of it. Well, where's that from.
[0:52] Speaker 1: It's from our gospel reading for Palm Sunday, the gospel
[0:56] Speaker 1: we read in advance of the procession with Palms, describing
[1:00] Speaker 1: well that moment when the Lord says to two of
[1:04] Speaker 1: his disciples, I want you to go into the city
[1:07] Speaker 1: to prepare you for the Last Supper, and they're told
[1:10] Speaker 1: to untether a donkey. And if there's any protest from
[1:16] Speaker 1: the owner. They are to say, the Master has need
[1:21] Speaker 1: of it. Well, it struck me that's a terrific motto
[1:26] Speaker 1: for a priest as he begins his priestly life, signaling
[1:32] Speaker 1: the humility of the one being called like a donkey,
[1:39] Speaker 1: like a humble animal made for work, not very graceful,
[1:44] Speaker 1: unlikely to draw attention to itself. And even that eloquent
[1:50] Speaker 1: use of the impersonal pronoun, the Master has need of it,
[1:55] Speaker 1: signaling again, just the pure humility of the one who's
[2:00] Speaker 1: been chosen. I love how that model places the priest's
[2:07] Speaker 1: entire life under the aegis of the master. The Master
[2:15] Speaker 1: needs this young person's life, The Master needs this young
[2:20] Speaker 1: person's service. What he was saying was my life doesn't
[2:25] Speaker 1: belong to me. What he was saying was I hereby
[2:30] Speaker 1: surrender any sense of career, any sense of my own plans,
[2:35] Speaker 1: my own projects. No, No, my whole life is about
[2:40] Speaker 1: the Master and what the Master needs, and I'm willing
[2:44] Speaker 1: to cooperate. He was to be an instrument of Christ's
[2:48] Speaker 1: purpose period. Well, everybody, that's true in a unique sense
[2:55] Speaker 1: of the priest, and that would be talked for another day,
[2:57] Speaker 1: to talk about the way that the priest is used
[2:59] Speaker 1: by Christ. But I would say this, this basic idea
[3:04] Speaker 1: is true of every baptized person. Every baptized person should say,
[3:11] Speaker 1: in regard to himself or herself, the Master has need
[3:15] Speaker 1: of me. We speak of baptism as a character. Sacrament
[3:21] Speaker 1: carocta both Greek and Latin, has the sense of brand.
[3:26] Speaker 1: And again it's it's to think of an animal world.
[3:28] Speaker 1: When when an owner was branding an animal, he'd use
[3:31] Speaker 1: a karacta. Or when a young man entered the Roman army,
[3:35] Speaker 1: he was branded, usually on the upper arm, with a
[3:39] Speaker 1: karact and the brand marked him as a member of
[3:44] Speaker 1: the Roman army, just as the brand marked the animal
[3:46] Speaker 1: as belonging to the owner. So when a baby's baptized,
[3:52] Speaker 1: when an adult is baptized, he or she receives a brand,
[3:57] Speaker 1: a character that says I belong to Christ. The Master
[4:04] Speaker 1: has need of me and my whole life now is
[4:08] Speaker 1: about that, not about my projects and plans. Let me
[4:12] Speaker 1: say a quick word about need. It might strike you
[4:14] Speaker 1: as on God doesn't need anything, and that's strictly speaking true.
[4:20] Speaker 1: God's the lord of the whole universe. God is the
[4:22] Speaker 1: unconditioned act of being itself. God's the creator of all things.
[4:25] Speaker 1: So God needs nothing. God doesn't need our existence. God
[4:29] Speaker 1: doesn't need our good works. God could accomplish what he
[4:32] Speaker 1: wants on his own. That's true, but it speaks to
[4:37] Speaker 1: the privilege everybody of the Christian life. God delights in
[4:42] Speaker 1: allowing us to cooperate with his providence. Sure, God could
[4:47] Speaker 1: accomplish things on his own, but he delights in letting
[4:51] Speaker 1: us participate, giving us the privilege. Thomas Aquinas speaks of
[4:56] Speaker 1: the dignity of causality, that we can act as instruments
[5:01] Speaker 1: or secondary causes for God's purpose. Doesn't need us in
[5:06] Speaker 1: the strict sense, but he needs us in the sense
[5:08] Speaker 1: that he wants to draw us into his work. And see,
[5:14] Speaker 1: once we get this, I think everything changes in our lives.
[5:21] Speaker 1: Once we understand this principle, everything is revolutionized because customarily
[5:27] Speaker 1: we think, well, yeah, my talents and capacities and abilities,
[5:31] Speaker 1: they're for me to make my life better, to make
[5:35] Speaker 1: my life more accomplished, so I can do what I want.
[5:38] Speaker 1: Lucky me that I have these gifts, so I can
[5:41] Speaker 1: accomplish my goals. But see, in light of this principle,
[5:47] Speaker 1: we should turn all of that around, turn that on
[5:50] Speaker 1: its head. Rather the gifts we have, by the way,
[5:55] Speaker 1: properly named gifts, not things that I've earned or deserve.
[6:01] Speaker 1: The gifts I receive are for the sake of Christ,
[6:04] Speaker 1: so that Christ can use them for his selvific purpose.
[6:09] Speaker 1: So let's make it more concrete. Jeffrey asked, Let's say
[6:14] Speaker 1: you're a very smart person. You're intelligent, you've always done
[6:17] Speaker 1: well in school, You've got advanced degrees, you're quick on
[6:20] Speaker 1: your feet, you're articulate. Tory ask, hm, how come I
[6:25] Speaker 1: have such capacity? How come I'm so smart? Oh, so
[6:29] Speaker 1: you can show off and you can accomplish great things
[6:32] Speaker 1: for yourself. No, no, no, it's to serve Christ in
[6:36] Speaker 1: his purposes. To give your mind, to give your sharp
[6:40] Speaker 1: and acute mind to Christ that he might use it.
[6:44] Speaker 1: Think here of a great saint such as Thomas Aquinas,
[6:47] Speaker 1: my hero, one of the master minds of Western civilization,
[6:51] Speaker 1: ranking with Plato and khn To, one of the greatest minds.
[6:54] Speaker 1: How beautiful that Aquinas gave that mind to Christ, used
[6:59] Speaker 1: to serve Christ's purposes. The Master had need of it,
[7:03] Speaker 1: and a quaints knew that. Let's say you're really good
[7:07] Speaker 1: with people. You're an extroverted, gregarious type, people like you.
[7:15] Speaker 1: You're popular. Hey, good for me. That means I got
[7:18] Speaker 1: a lot of friends and I'm a popular guy. Yeah,
[7:22] Speaker 1: that's a very superficial way I look at it. What
[7:25] Speaker 1: have you were to say, No, No, I've received this
[7:28] Speaker 1: gift of gregariousness, so I could give it back to Christ.
[7:33] Speaker 1: So I could use that gift now to be an evangelist,
[7:38] Speaker 1: to reach out to people. If they like me I'm popular, well, good.
[7:41] Speaker 1: That gives me a sort of entree into their lives,
[7:43] Speaker 1: and I can speak therefore of the Lord more efficaciously.
[7:49] Speaker 1: Why are you so good working with kids? You know,
[7:51] Speaker 1: let's say you're really good at that and kids respond
[7:53] Speaker 1: to you and you know how to reach them. Well,
[7:57] Speaker 1: maybe you're like Don Bosco, great saint who dedicates life
[8:01] Speaker 1: to caring for kids. Maybe it's because Christ wants you
[8:04] Speaker 1: to use that particular gift for his purpose. Why do
[8:10] Speaker 1: you have the gift of courage? I think of a
[8:13] Speaker 1: friends of mine and even little kids. You know, they
[8:15] Speaker 1: were the first ones to try something difficult. There was
[8:18] Speaker 1: a challenge or there was an opportunity, and they were
[8:21] Speaker 1: the first ones in line to try it, and they
[8:23] Speaker 1: were kind of throwing caution to the wind. And in
[8:25] Speaker 1: the course of their lives they continue to be courageous,
[8:28] Speaker 1: willing to try things, take on dangers. Well, that's for me,
[8:33] Speaker 1: so I can be a cool kind of daredevil. And
[8:37] Speaker 1: or maybe Christ gave you that courage that you might
[8:43] Speaker 1: use it for his purposes. Think of the saints now,
[8:47] Speaker 1: up and down the centuries. Not just the martyrs, they're
[8:49] Speaker 1: the limit case people whose courage served Christ, but all
[8:55] Speaker 1: the saints who were called upon to do dangerous and
[8:58] Speaker 1: difficult things. Think of a Francis Xavier, moving figure to me,
[9:03] Speaker 1: you know, leaving behind his life in Europe, leaving behind
[9:06] Speaker 1: everybody he knew, going on the leaky boats of that era,
[9:11] Speaker 1: going across the world to proclaim the Gospel to people
[9:15] Speaker 1: that he knew nothing about, dying thousands of miles from
[9:19] Speaker 1: his home. This marvelous courage that enabled them to do that.
[9:25] Speaker 1: Think of an Isaac Joones who came from France, you know,
[9:28] Speaker 1: to this country to work with the native peoples, and
[9:32] Speaker 1: found himself brutally tortured, even the point of losing his
[9:36] Speaker 1: fingers on his right hand. He returns to France and
[9:39] Speaker 1: he was lionized. You know. People admired him legitimately for
[9:43] Speaker 1: his great courage. But Isid Jokes decided I'm going to
[9:47] Speaker 1: go back. I'm going to go back to the same
[9:50] Speaker 1: people who had been so cruel to me because I
[9:52] Speaker 1: want to preach the Gospel to them, and he lost
[9:55] Speaker 1: his life in that process. Why do you have courage
[9:59] Speaker 1: if you've got it not for your purposes, not for
[10:01] Speaker 1: your career, not for your advancement. But maybe the courage
[10:05] Speaker 1: you've been given is because Christ wants you to use
[10:08] Speaker 1: that to do his sometimes dangerous and difficult work. How
[10:14] Speaker 1: come you're such a good teacher. Maybe you've just got
[10:18] Speaker 1: away with communicating the truth. You know you're not gonna
[10:23] Speaker 1: make a lot of money using that in the world.
[10:26] Speaker 1: Maybe it's because Christ wants you to be a teacher
[10:30] Speaker 1: of the faith. Young people today needing teachers of the faith.
[10:36] Speaker 1: You bet lots of young people alienated from the faith.
[10:40] Speaker 1: Maybe your skill as a teacher is something the Master
[10:44] Speaker 1: has need of right now, and he gave you that
[10:48] Speaker 1: gift that you might give it back to him. How
[10:53] Speaker 1: come you've got such a sympathy for the poor. I've
[10:56] Speaker 1: known people from the time they were little kids that
[10:58] Speaker 1: had this great sympathy for those who suffer. They had
[11:01] Speaker 1: a great gift of compassion. Again, it's probably not going
[11:05] Speaker 1: to advance you very far in the world, but maybe
[11:08] Speaker 1: Christ gave it to you because he wants you to
[11:11] Speaker 1: give it back to him to be of service to
[11:14] Speaker 1: his people. You see my point. The way we look
[11:19] Speaker 1: at our life will utterly change if we let that
[11:22] Speaker 1: little line sink in. The Master has need of it.
[11:27] Speaker 1: That means that, in my humility, I'm going to give
[11:30] Speaker 1: back what Christ gave to me. Let me close just
[11:33] Speaker 1: by reflecting on this last thing. The Lord says, now,
[11:36] Speaker 1: go into the city, and I want you to untether
[11:40] Speaker 1: the donkey. And if anyone asks, you say, the Master
[11:42] Speaker 1: has need of it. But I want to focus on
[11:44] Speaker 1: the untethering. You see how wonderful that this donkey was
[11:51] Speaker 1: liberated for Christ's service. Think of that tethering an animal
[11:57] Speaker 1: that's tethered in place. It can't move, It stuck. The
[12:01] Speaker 1: way everybody that most of us live is a kind
[12:04] Speaker 1: of tethering. We're tied to the goods of the world.
[12:09] Speaker 1: We're tied to our own projects and plans. We're tied
[12:13] Speaker 1: to our own petty reputations. We're tied to our own pride,
[12:17] Speaker 1: wealth and power, pleasure, honor were tethered to these things.
[12:22] Speaker 1: How wonderful that one of the apostles of the Lord
[12:26] Speaker 1: comes and unties that animal. Think of that now, the
[12:30] Speaker 1: grace of Christ untethering you from these attachments that you have,
[12:40] Speaker 1: which have just made you unhappy. Let's be honest, right,
[12:43] Speaker 1: whenever we live our life that way, it's my projects,
[12:46] Speaker 1: my plans. Look at me, it leads down a road
[12:49] Speaker 1: to great unhappiness. Let Christ's grace untether you from all
[12:53] Speaker 1: that and free you, paradoxically to be of service to him.
[13:00] Speaker 1: Because when you serve the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not
[13:03] Speaker 1: a type of servitude. It's not a kind of enslavement.
[13:07] Speaker 1: In fact, it's a liberation. So on this Palm Sunday,
[13:12] Speaker 1: identify with that little humble donkey, that little humble animal,
[13:17] Speaker 1: look at the whole of your life, and say, you know,
[13:21] Speaker 1: ultimately the Master has need of it, and give your
[13:27] Speaker 1: life over to him and God bless you. Thanks so
[13:32] Speaker 1: much for watching. If you enjoyed this video, I invite
[13:35] Speaker 1: you to share it and to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

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