1 Tim 3:1-13 / Luke 7:11-17
Not very often do we hear of this phrase "noble work".
In fact whenever the word "work" is mentioned, people may turn their faces away and hope that they won't be called upon because work would demand them to make sacrifices.
Even if it is doing some "noble work" like social work or charitable work or volunteer work, we still may not call it noble because we don't think that it is that it so distinguished or magnanimous.
Yet the "noble work" that we heard of in the 1st reading is not so much about what is done but more about the character of the person doing it
St. Paul listed out the requisites for a person to be a presiding elder, which may be the equivalent to a cleric or an ordained minister.
The work or ministry that the candidate would be doing could only be noble when the person in question is of noble character.
Because the noble work here is about teaching and sharing with others the life of Christ - it is a life-giving work and hence it is called noble.
And that was what Jesus came to do. He came to do the work that His Father had given him, and that is to save and to give life to others.
Pope Francis asked the Church and the world this question on the prayer vigil at St. Peter's Square on the 7th September:
"Can we get out of this spiral of sorrow and death? Can we learn once again to walk and live in the ways of peace?"
Yes, we can. Only when we live the life of Christ in us. And then we will go forth to do the noble work He has set before us.