DAILY HOMILIES #humility

During the Easter Triduum, we go beyond retelling the stories of salvation to “re-creating” these events to deepen our reflection of what happened during those last days of Christ walking the face of the earth. Hence, our celebrations are marked with a lot of symbolism and deep historical relevance

Someone once said that even if Jesus Christ came again, we would kill him a second time. This is because, despite changing times, human beings have always remained the same. As we reflect on the major characters in the Passion Narrative, let us observe how we mirror them so that we can subsequently make the needed changes.

A simple way to understand infallibility is to reflect on the incarnation. While Jesus remained God, He humbled himself to the point of taking our weak human nature. In the same way, while Jesus remains the owner and builder of the church, He is incarnated in the person of the Pope.

Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the temple to do what the law prescribed. They knew that Jesus is God, yet they obeyed the law, presenting God to God. In other words, they knew there was no need to bring the baby Jesus to the temple, but in humility (not wanting to appear like the special ones in their community), they followed the law.

While prayer requires the will of God to work, magic entirely depends on the magician. Magic is all about performance; it is a show for the glory of the magician. On the other hand, prayer requires prostrating ourselves before God; it involves bending the knee, bowing, and begging God, and it is always to the glory of God.

While David opted to build a house for God, Mary agreed to become a living tabernacle for God. Humility is not necessarily thinking less of ourselves but giving God His due.

Pride makes us think we know everything. It prevents us from learning anything new. Like a cup full of water, we can’t take any more water. As a result of pride, we find ourselves arguing with everyone and challenging them in every instance. What makes pride dangerous is that it is an invisible vice. I can never see my pride. In other words, I need others to tell me whether or not I am proud and when they do, I consider it an insult.

We learn from the centurion to be humble, bearing in mind that we are not worthy to have Jesus come to us. Humility is not just thinking less of myself; it is thinking big of the God I serve. If only I knew how big God is, rather than seeing prayer as a waste of time, I would consider each minute I spend praying a privilege.

The moment we see ourselves as better than others, we start going down. In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus, having put the Pharisees to shame by healing a man with dropsy, taught us a lesson in humility. Jesus described pride as taking a seat at the high table (when invited for a ceremony) only for the host to politely ask you to step down for a more important guest.

Like this Canaanite woman, we have been victims of tough times at some point. We may be going through very difficult circumstances right now. Today, we learn that tough times do not last, but tough people do. What does it mean to be a tough person? Selflessness – living not merely for oneself but for others. Living above Prejudice - refusing to judge others based on their origins. Positivity - refusing to take ‘No’ for an answer. Humility – accepting and taking advantage of whatever insults we receive. Let us not examine some lessons in today’s readings.

In our Gospel passage, Jesus is unhappy with his people due to their over-familiarity. Have I become too familiar with God? Do I still have the fear of God in me? Do I value the Bible or treat it as just one of those books?

Relying on his strength, Moses fulfilled his passion only to make a costly mistake; he was murdered by killing an Egyptian. When Moses discovered this was not a secret, he fled for his life, which would have been the sad end of his dream. It wasn’t until Moses had grown old and lost every atom of self-confidence that God appeared to him again in the burning bush. This was to teach Moses a lesson in humility.