Dear friends,
It was so good to see our children and families last Sunday at our “Welcome Back to Faith Formation” event. We missed all of you over the summer and look forward to meeting the many newcomers to our area and parish. If you are not yet registered, please do so soon, as our team of catechists have been working hard to plan for a year filled with activities to learn more about Jesus and the traditions of our Catholic faith. Please see the bulletin for the many ministries and events taking place in the parish. There is something for everyone!
Today, we celebrate the 22nd Sunday in Year C, and we are invited to reflect on the virtue of humility. The Book of Sirach (3: 17-18) that we hear today opens with this advice: “My child, conduct your affairs with humility and you will be loved more than a giver of gifts. Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.” Jesus further emphasizes in the Gospel of Luke, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The virtue of humility is a beautiful one in its ideals, but it is one that is very hard to live by. It is so wonderful to talk of Mother Mary and St. Joseph and so many of the saints who lived simple and humble lives, but to live it consciously is an enormous challenge. In this day and age, when ego is a prominent player in our lives, talk of humility can easily be dismissed, even laughed at. Remember the song, “I Did It My Way,” which should be familiar to many of us? I reflected on those words a couple of weeks ago, and it’s certainly not one I’ll be singing at the pearly gates as I stand knocking and seeking entrance. As Peter Kreeft would say, it would succeed more as the “National Anthem of Hell.” Rather, let us contemplate Mary who, better than anyone, embodies the virtue of humility as revealed in her magnificent hymn of praise for our Lord in Luke 1:46-55, The Magnificat. I will certainly stand a better chance at entering the pearly gates singing this song.
C.S. Lewis said it wisely when he defined humility as: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.”
Jesus, of course, is the ultimate example of this lived humility, and St. Paul captures it best in his letter to the Philippians (2: 6- 8): “Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” We can pray to Jesus for the grace of humility by using this prayer: “Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.”
John the Baptist is another champion of humility. His entire life was lived to prepare the way for Jesus: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 6:30).
O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, O Jesus.
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. Amen.
Have a blessed week!
Fr. John