Sunday 28th August 2022 Reflection By Fr Emile Kouma

Mon 05th Sep 2022

Commitment in Humility Christian 

The keyword of this Sunday is HUMILITY. The readings today stress on how our Christian commitment calls us to be humble people. They present humility not only as a virtue but also as a means of opening our hearts, our minds, and our hands to the poor, the needy, the disadvantaged, and the marginalized people in our society. They also warn us against all forms of pride and self-glorification. 

The first reading, taken from the book of Sirach, the wise man, reminds us that if we are humble, we will find favour with God, and others will love us. The author recommends us to find true greatness in living humbly. “The more you humble yourselves, the greater you are.”(Sir 3: 18)

The second reading, taken from the letter to the Hebrews, gives another reason for us to be humble. Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God humbled Himself, taking on human flesh and living our lives that he might die to save us. What humility! He invites us today to learn how to live from him because he is “meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29). 

We need to follow Christ’s example of humility in our relationships with the less fortunate members of our society.

Today’s Gospel teaches us that we must act with humility and see ourselves as the servants of the community rather than those whom the community might feel honoured to serve. At a wedding banquet Jesus advises the guests to go to the lowest place instead of seeking places of honour, so that the host may give them the place they really deserve. Jesus’ words concerning the seating of guests should prompt us to honour those whom others ignore, because if we are generous and just in our dealings with those in need, we can be confident of the Lord’s blessings.

What is humility?

 We all know that the opposite of humility is pride. To be proud is not humble. For just as pride is the root of all sins, “humility is the root, mother, nurse, foundation and bond of all virtue,” says St. John Chrysostom. Let us also be careful about false humility. Then what does it really mean to be humble? Does it mean to put ourselves down? Does it mean to think little of ourselves? Does it mean to deny our true worth, or to belittle it? Not at all! Humility is something far more profound and far more beautiful than that. 

Humility is the truth of ourselves. To be humble is to be truly oneself without pretending. True humility requires us neither to overestimate nor to underestimate our worth. Be what you are!  If you are intelligent, accept it because it’s true; but don’t boast yourself because it’s a gift from God. Just be grateful!  Let us look at Mary the very model of humility.  Does she say, for example, that she is a great sinner, as some people do who actually think the opposite of what they say? No, because in her case it would not be true. She says in her “Magnificat” that “The Mighty One has done great things for me” (Lke. 1:49). So she frankly acknowledges her greatness, because that is the truth. But she does not claim to be the source of her greatness or to deserve it in any way, because that would not be true.

Humility is related to the truth whereas pride is linked to lies and hypocrisy. “Pride makes us artificial, and humility makes us real.”(Thomas Merton).  

 This is Mother Teresa’s exhortations to her novices: “If I try to make myself as small as I can, I’ll never become humble. True humility is truth. Humility comes when I stand as tall as I can, and look at all of my strengths, and the reality about me, but put myself alongside Jesus Christ.” Thus, humility is to see ourselves as God sees us. Furthermore, humility is a very curious virtue: the fact that you affirm that you have it, you automatically lose it. For instance, saying that I’m humble, it means that you are not humble.

Humility is to be grateful to God and use our gifts for the good of others.We don’t have right to be boastful of who we are and of what we have. Humility is “not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” (C.S. Lewis). 

 Humility is based on the psychological awareness that everything I have is a gift from God and, therefore, I have no reason to elevate myself above others. On the contrary, I must use these God-given gifts to help others and to serve the church. Humility consists in acknowledging our talents and qualities in a spirit of gratitude and in thankfully connecting them with their source, which is God. We should never think of ourselves as better than anyone else, for all we are is due to God’s grace. This is the way to form our hearts in humble gratitude. 

Service in humility

How are we committed in the church as Christians? How are we serving the church and our brothers and sisters?  Humility does not imply denying our gifts, or not sharing our talents with others. God made us.  We, in turn, are thankful to God for those gifts, and show our thankfulness by using our talents in service to one another. The word humility comes from the Latin word humus which means “fertile soil.” In other words, to be humble is to be ready to accept who we are, especially with our talents, abilities, limitations, and weaknesses. Humility does not mean thinking less of ourselves. It means living as Jesus lived – not for ourselves, but for others. “The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve.” (Mark 10: 45)

The quality of humility that Jesus is talking about also has a sociological dimension because He is inviting us to associate with the so-called “lower classes” of the society, even the outcasts. Jesus invites us to change our social patterns in such a way that we connect with and serve the poor and needy with love.

Let us pray and ask for the grace of serving humility. May we truthfully and humbly recognize our talents, skills and qualities and use them, out of love, for the service of the least fortunate of our community and for the growth of the church.

Fr Emile Kouma, sm

 

LITURGICAL CALENDAR

Mon. 29th The beheading of St. John the Baptist 1Cor. 2:1-5 Ps. 118 Mrk. 6:17-29

Tues. 30th  St. Margaret Clitherow Nee Middleton 1Cor. 2:10-16 Ps. 144 Lk. 4:31-37

Wed. 31 St. Aidan 1Cor. 3:1-9 Ps. 32 Lk. 4:38-44

Thur. 1st St. Giles 1Cor. 3:18-23 Ps. 23 Lk. 5:1-11

Fri. 2nd Blessed. André Grasset 1Cor. 4:1-5 Ps. 36 Lk. 5:33-39

Sat. 3rd Pope St. Gregory the Great 1Cor.4:6-15 Ps. 144 Lk.  6:1-5

Sun.28th 22th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

PSALTER II 1st Reading: Eccle. 3:19-21,30-31 

2nd Reading: Heb. 12:18-19,22-24 Ps.67 Lk. 14:1,7-14