"The One who Humbles himself will be Exalted"

Sunday Mass Readings

People do many things to exalt themselves. From wearing certain brand clothes, to owning particular types of cars, from eating at particular restaurants to consuming certain types of wines, from living in certain neighbourhoods to becoming members of a certain parish, the choices we have to climb the social ladder is stupendous. Now don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong in these acts by themselves. But I think Christ is warning us that if our self-image, our dignity, our relationship with God and with others is determined by these things, then we have not understood the Christian paradox. Because, “one who exalts himself will be humbled….” Such a person has placed his or her security in things other than God. And that is the opposite of humility. That is pride. Humility, on the other hand comes from the realization that our basic dignity comes from God. The first reading today says to us, “My child… Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.” Jesus took that advise to heart and lived it. As the letter to the Philippians tells us, “He humbled himself, taking the form of a slave…” and again, “… humbled himself becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” I don not know if we get it or not but our salvation depended on Christ’s humble obedience. The salvation of millions of poor people in India depended on the humble obedience of Mother Teresa.

A humble person understands the paradox that, in his/her humility he/she she saves others. In saving others, he or she finds her own salvation. The proud and arrogant person, on the other hand, destroys others and in the process, destroys himself/herself.