If you think about the stories we hear in the Gospels week after week about Jesus and his disciples, a lot of it involves Jesus’ interaction with the people of Ancient Israel and his sharing of meals with them. In fact, some Scripture scholars humorously report that Jesus ate his way through the Gospels. Scripture Scholar Father Robert Karris, a Franciscan priest at St Bonaventure University in New York states: “In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal.” In fact, elsewhere in Luke’s Gospel, the scribes and Pharisees accuse Jesus of being a glutton and a drunkard in the way they see him always eating with others, trying to discredit him and tear down his ministry. But, since sharing meals with others and inviting others to a meal is such an important part of Southern hospitality, we here in Mississippi perhaps understand Jesus’ behavior a bit better than others. In many ways, Jesus reveals different facets of God’s kingdom to us in the way he shared his meals with sinners and tax collectors, with the poor and the outcasts and the marginalized in society. In today’s Gospel, as Jesus’ conduct is being observed while he is dining at the home of a leading Pharisee, Jesus presents a parable that addresses the Christian virtue of humility when Jesus sees the Pharisees trying to grab the seat of honor when they sit down for a meal.
If you search the internet for quotes from the saints and different theologians about the virtue of humility, you will be overwhelmed with how many wonderful quotes on humility you find. St Augustine, Doctor of the Church and Bishop of Hippo in Africa, whose feast day we celebrate on Sunday, August 28, had this to say: "No one reaches the kingdom of Heaven except by humility”. The great mystic St Teresa of Avila, also a Doctor of the Church, saw humility as as the foundation to our growth in holiness: “Humility must always be doing its work in us like a bee making its honey in the hive: without humility, all will be lost.” Father Thomas Keating of the Trappist monks, one of the spiritual fathers of centering prayer, had these profound words to say - ““Humility is an attitude of honesty with God, oneself, and of all reality. It enables us to be at peace in the presence of our powerlessness and to rest in the forgetfulness of self.”
We know that Jesus’ journey here on earth is the greatest example of humility we can have. Jesus emptied himself. He came as a servant. He came in human likeness. By humbling himself, becoming obedient to death, to his death on a cross. Jesus explains in the Gospel today that we should follow that example. If we try to exalt ourselves, we will be humbled, but if we humble ourselves, we will be lifted up. We have many examples of humility all around us that can inspire us and encourage us on our journey of faith. These examples come not only from the famous saints whom we honor in our faith, but by those we meet in our everyday lives. I immediately thought of many of the religious sisters I knew in Ecuador. Sister Gemma. Sister Elena. Sister Julia. Sister Monserrat. Sister Celia. Sister Rosa. Their names still stay with me after more than 20 years. They served in the jungle with the poorest of the poor. They never asked for any honors or accolades or recognition. They never asked for comfortable living quarters. They served in humility, generosity, and graciousness. They served others with love, compassion, and Christian charity. They encouraged others and made them feel confident in themselves. Their very lives encouraged others to want to live their lives as Christians.
And yet, in the last couple of days, I thought of others, due to circumstances that have occurred - sad or tragic circumstances. We heard the news of the passing of Father Gus Langenkamp, SVD. I had heard of Father Gus when I first arrived as a parishioner at Sacred Heart parish in Greenville, a historically African American parish in the Mississippi Delta where Father Gus served as pastor prior to coming to Tupelo. Father Gus was so fondly remembered by the parishioners there just as he is remembered so lovingly by the parishioners here at St James. Having served as a missionary in Ecuador, Father Gus had a great love for the Hispanic people and was a pioneer in Hispanic ministry here in our Diocese. Father Gus and his 59 years of priestly ministry had a great impact on so many people, not for how great he was and not for how he wielded power, by for the humble way he lived out the Gospel in his life each, for his service to people, for the everyday things he did to be a part of the lives of the people. Then we have Sister Margaret and Sister Paula who served the poor of Holmes County. Both of them served in Mississippi for years. As nurse practitioners, as proclaimers of Christ’s Gospel through the health care they provided to those in need, through their compassion and their missionary spirit, they are being remembered throughout our Diocese and throughout the nation. The humble spirit that Jesus brought to us that was embodied in the ministry of Sister Paula and Sister Margaret overcomes any hatred or violence or anger that tries to drown out his Good News.
Like any of the valves of the Gospel, it is not just an academic theory we discuss. It is not something that we can force into our lives. Humility is a fruit of the holy spirit, just like faithfulness, charity, and patience. By following the Gospel in our daily lives, by studying and growing and practicing our faith, values like humility will be fruits of that faith. I really love this quote by Franciscan priest Richard Rohr: "Humility and human come from the Latin word, humus, dirt. A human being is someone . . . taken out of the dirt. A humble person is one who recognizes that and even rejoices in it!” Humility is called to be an integral part of the earthly, messy reality of our lives. Yes, we are called to rejoice in our humble identity. We called to allow God to live in us and fill us with his spirit, to do his will throughout our journey of faith. In our humility, in our humble lives of service, may we always be instruments of God’s peace and goodness and graciousness.
No comments:
Post a Comment