Jesus teaches, “When you go to a party, sit in the lowest place.” Obviously those words are not to be taken literary otherwise nobody would sit in the presidential table; everybody would be grabbing for the last chair as the parlor game “Trip to Jerusalem.
What it means is a conscious striving to consider oneself always lower to others or to avoid boasting or getting fixated with an “I” decease. As the book of Sirach puts it “The greater you are, the more humble you should behave, then you will find favor with the Lord” (Sir 3, 18 – 1st reading). Lest we misunderstand the virtue altogether, being humble doesn’t mean suppression of one’s personal attributes or an abject self-depreciation.
It doesn’t consist in a beautiful woman calling herself ugly, or in an intelligent man calling himself stupid otherwise it’s false humility. Humility is a virtue, and a virtue must be built on truth or it’s no virtue at all.
Remember Mary of the Magnificat who openly declared, “Henceforth all generations shall call be blessed”? And Christ who proclaimed, “Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart,” did not hesitate to say also, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Moreover, contrary to the common belief that humility is synonymous with weakness, humility is really the virtue of the strong. The humble Christ overturned the tables of the money changers, drove them away and denounced the hypocrites.
The humble man knows his place and takes it. The humble man – if he is supposed to rule –rules; and he is supposed to serve, serves. But even in his most triumphant moments, the humble remembers that he is, and all that he , is from God. He does not mistake the gifts of God for his sole achievement. And that’s what separates the humble from the proud.
Of course, the BEST example of Humility is Christ Himself. Although He was God’s Son, He chose to be poor and humble. And because He humbled himself, He was exalted by Heavenly Father. Think about that.
Let us never become discouraged by our weakness and failings. Jesus can use all this – in fact, he sometimes allows it – to help us become more humble. And so we cooperate, actively seeking the lower place, while deferring the higher place to others.
Key Concepts Of Stewardship: Fund Raising. Unlike stewardship, which is a way of life involving all aspects of an individual Christian’s daily life, fund raising is a very specific set of activities designed to support the mission and goals of a parish. Fund raising is a discipline. It is a planned and organized effort to find potential volunteers and donors, to build strong relationships, and to ask for the gifts of time, talent and treasures.
In this week of August, we celebrate the Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist. In the first days of September, we have our First Friday and First Saturday devotion Masses of the Sacred Heart and of Our Lady of Fatima respectively. We commemorate also the feast of St. Gregory the Great on September 3. This is all for now, watch the next bulletin. God bless!
Your Priest-Servant and Parochial Administrator,
Fr. Reggie