Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
In St. Luke’s Gospel, our Lord asks us to consider humility and it’s opposite—pride, the deadliest of the seven deadly sins. Why is it that we are called to humility? Isn’t pride a good thing? It seems that in all places we see pride held up as the ideal: pride in one’s country, pride in one’s achievements, pride in one’s work, pride in one’s children, pride in one’s status. What’s so deadly about pride? Pride, deadliest of sins, is such a problem because it’s an extreme focus on the self. To be proud is to be satisfied with oneself, to put oneself first. When one is completely satisfied with oneself, one does not need salvation, one does not see sin. Indeed, St. Augustine described sin as to be “caved in on oneself.”
Does this man that we are called to fly under the radar? To not be noticed? In a certain sense, yes. But, as we learn in today’s gospel reading, when the time is right, we will be called forward. To respond to God’s call is not to be prideful, but rather to be truly humble. It is to recognize God as more important than oneself. When St. Paul, in today’s first reading, hopes that the Philippians’ “boasting in Christ Jesus may abound” (Phil 1:26), he is emphasizing that Christ be proclaimed in every way possible. Boasting in Christ is discipleship; boasting in ourselves is sin.
The difference is one of direction. If we repeatedly give ourselves the credit for our achievements or our place in life, we direct the attention to ourselves. But if God is the source of all that is good, then it is God who ultimately deserves the credit. We are the humble instruments of God.
Our goal, then, is to let God to the work, trying not to let ourselves get in the way. This is humility. Recall Peter’s prideful refusal to accept the Lord’s washing of his feet in St. John’s Gospel. Jesus told him that he could not enter the kingdom without humbly submitting to Jesus.
We often hear that life is survival of the fittest; that allowing ourselves to be helped and served by others is a sign of our weakness and the beginning of our downfall. “Make as much money as you can and store it up!” “Refuse all assistance and pull yourself up by your bootstraps!” “Beat out your peers at whatever the cost!” But we know better. We have Jesus’ selfless love all the way to the cross as our model.
- Tim Gabrielli