Dear friends, Here is my homily for the Twenty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Recently when I was in Rome I visited Cardinal Santos Abril. He had been the Nuncio, the Pope’s Ambassador, in La Paz, Bolivia, for many years, and was a frequent visitor in our Rectory. He is in charge of Santa Maria Maggoire, one of the four Basilicas of Rome, and works in the Congregation for Bishops in the Vatican. It happens that he had been the Nuncio in Argentina some years ago, and knows the Holy Father very well. He told me a few stories about the Pope. The first has also come out in the press, that the Holy Father, when he was going to Santa Maria Maggoire for a visit, asked the Cardinal about the availability of cars. The Cardinal looked into it and told him there was a Mercedes, another large car with tinted windows and a phone, and a Ford Focus. Without hesitation, he chose the Ford Focus. On another occasion some of the Archbishops who accompany the Pope when he meets foreign dignitaries, asked the Cardinal to intercede for them with the Pope, to ask him if he would please wear the red cape and large red and gold stole on those occasions. The Holy Father asked Cardinal Santos Abril whether they would be asking him this often, the Cardinal said that “Yes, they would.”, and so the Pope said “No”. He also was asked to wear the red shoes, like his predecessor, to which the Pope said that his black shoes are orthopedic shoes (which they are not). The style of Pope Francis has definitely drawn the attention of people, and his humility has been applauded by so many people. He has also challenged the Bishops and priests to lead more humble lives. This weekend our gospel reading (Luke 14:1, 7-14) extols the virtue of humility. Jesus humbled himself in becoming one like us, in taking on human flesh. It is only natural, then, that he would ask his followers to exemplify the virtue of humility. The examples he use speak to us about our human nature, our human condition. Jesus speaks of taking places of honour at table. How many times have we looked for just that in a restaurant, or in a wedding banquet or business luncheon? Our natural attraction is to the best seats, the table with the best view, and the table with the people we want to sit and share with. Therefore, we can imagine the embarrassment of being asked to leave that place and move to another seat – close to the kitchen door, behind a wall, or with people we really don’t know. Jesus tells us that “those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted”. The second example he gives is also a comment on our humanity. He tells us that if we were truly humble we would not only invite our friends and family, the people we ‘owe’, or the people who can repay our generosity – but to invite those who cannot repay us, who cannot return the favour. In his time and place, he tells them this means, “the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind”. In our time and place, it may be other criteria – the person of another race, ethnic background or social position. Perhaps it is someone we feel uncomfortable with, or someone who has ‘rubbed us the wrong way’. In our First Reading from the Book of Sirach (3:17-18, 20, 28-29) God also reveals the importance of humility with God and with others. He tells us that we “will be loved more than a giver of gifts”. What does humility look like for us? I must admit that when I worked in Bolivia if you said that someone was ‘humilde’, it was a derogatory remark – that it was a person without much promise or possibility, someone lacking in self-esteem, or someone who could be pushed around. This is not the humility that Jesus is talking about! Humility, in the sense of which Jesus speaks, is a virtue by which we recognize that God is the giver of all that we have and are. This fills us with gratitude, and makes us realize that we ‘need’ God. At the same time, humility also means that we live in harmony with one another, that we see each other as brothers and sisters, not competitors; that we see in those around us people just like ourselves – with their dreams and hopes, their fears and their joys. Then we put ourselves on a ‘level playing field’ with others. We don’t ‘lord it over them’, but at the same time we do not put ourselves down and deny the gifts and talents that we have received. It seems so often that humility and pride are seen as mutually exclusive, when actually I see them as more juxtaposed, intimately related. I think that too often many of us were formed with the idea that we should avoid any pride. Many times this has led to parents hesitating to applaud their children, for fear that they ‘get a big head’, or become too self-assured. Indeed, Jesus speaks against the proud on many occasions. But the reason, I believe, why pride is so misunderstood is because of the misuse of pride – to demean others or rob others of their dignity. This is not the idea of pride in a Christian sense. To have pride on ourselves – like with the virtue of humility – is to realize that all that we have and are comes from God. God has entrusted us with gifts and talents, and through his grace we have been blessed to use them well. Pride should reflect not only what WE do, what WE have accomplished, but how well we have used what God has given us. If we have been a faithful steward we should have an healthy pride in ourselves. Just as Pope Francis has given to the Church and the world so many examples of the virtue of humility, it does not mean that he is insecure, or timid, or backing away from his responsibilities. Rather, he is doing it in a way that reflects that awareness that all comes from God, and that (although he is the Holy Father) he is also a disciple of Jesus as each one of us are. With our reflections from these readings this weekend, let us gain a clearer understanding of humility and pride, so that we will recognize the gifts and graces of God, that we will use well, all that we have and are, and that we will live with each other in harmony and peace as brothers and sisters of that one generous God.
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 19:31:09 +0000
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