REFLECTION FOR THE 22ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C
With further destruction of innocent human life in the State of Texas by gunfire, and the lies perpetuated by the governor of that state, who signed into law the complete obliteration of gun control laws in the state, it is very hard to write this reflection.
The primary focus of Sirach’s reading and that of Luke’s Gospel today is focused on the virtue of humility. Time and time again in sacred scripture, God makes it very clear that it are those who are lowly and humble that will be elevated to greatness by God, while the proud and the powerful will be reduced to nothing. Read these words of Mary in her canticle from the Gospel of Luke:
“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” (Luke 1:46-55, NAB)
These words are not just isolated to that of Luke’s Gospel. Everywhere we look in the Gospels we find the embodiment of humility in the person of Jesus. Humility is not just something found in the Christian Testament, but is the backbone of the Hebrew Testament. We find Mary’s words predated in the mouth of Hannah in 1st Samuel. We find them throughout the Psalms and the prophets. How many times in sacred scripture do we find human beings exalting themselves only to be justly cast aside by God. King David, himself, was brought to his knees by his pride and the sin that his pride caused. Over and over throughout scripture the proud have been humbled. We might think that eventually us humans would finally get the point. But no, we continue over and over to turn a deaf ear to the virtue of humility. And, over and over, we have been brought to our knees by our own pride.
We can’t turn on the news without hearing some politician falsely boasting that they have the best intellect, the best words, the best policies, and ideas the world never has ever heard before. Of course, this is not just isolated to politicians. We hear the same from sport heroes, industrialists, intellectuals, professionals and specialists caught up in their own self-promotion, their own self-glory, and all the other lies they want to hear about themselves.
What does the virtue of humility teach us. It teaches us that the gifts that we have are not something self-made. We live in a world where the myth of the self-made person is perpetuated to the detriment of all humanity. Scripture teaches that all good comes from God. Our gifts and talents originate in God, who has called us to use those gifts for the sole purpose of using them to benefit others. My father, a brilliant mathematician and mechanical engineer was a prime example of a man truly gifted, but acknowledged that the gifts he had were solely attributed to God.
My dad worked as a mechanical engineer and salesman for Westinghouse Air Brake Company. He was often called as a professional/expert witness in lawsuits involving deaths cause by the collision of railroad trains and cars, trucks etc. Dad would be asked whether the train could have stopped in time, preventing the collision. The mathematical formula to determine this was flawed. So dad, in his spare time, developed a mathematical formula that took in variables like the number of cars an engine was pulling, the speed of the train, the condition of the tracks, to determine whether the train could have stopped in time to prevent the collision. His mathematical formula was tested by the railroads and they found that the degree of error in the formula was plus or minus 5 feet. The previous degree of error in other formulas was plus or minus 100 plus feet. Dad copyrighted the formula, and it is the formula used to this very day in courts of law to decide the outcome of many lawsuits involving train/vehicle collisions.
I asked dad whether he made any money off his formula. He told me, “No. From the very beginning, it was never my formula. It all belongs to the Holy Spirit, who inspired me to come up with it. Because it never belonged to me, it belongs to all people.”
If there was ever a virtuous man alive, it was my father, who never felt compelled to boast of having the best words, the best policies, and abilities never ever seen by the world. My dad’s life was a living parable of humility, and it was in his humility that his greatness was revealed to all who knew him. To use Jesus’ image in the Gospel today, Dad was content just to be able to sit at the table, never needing to seek out the high place at the table.
If we are truly humble, we will recognize that the gifts we have didn’t originate in us, they originated in the God of love who created us. And like my dad, when we use those gifts humbly in service of others, the greatness of God will be revealed in our lives for all to see.
