Friday of the
Third Week of Easter
(Acts 9:1-20; John 6:52-59)
In his new apostolic exhortation Pope Francis writes of
the need for humiliation. He says that
people need to be humiliated so that they may become saintly. He continues that humiliation conforms
Christians to Jesus who suffered so much at the hands of humans. He adds that Christ reveals the humility of
his Father, who has accompanied His people only to be continually
rejected. In today’s first reading Paul
undergoes significant humiliation. It
may be considered the fundamental step in his journey to saintly prominence.
Paul’s first humiliation is in meeting Jesus whom he
dismissed as dead. He has discovered
that the cause to which he has dedicated himself is not only vain but also
blasphemous. He also suffers the
humiliation of being blinded and having to be led about like a child. For a capable man like Paul this humiliation
must have been very frustrating.
Finally, Paul suffers the humiliation of initially being considered
suspect by other Christians. He is
feared, no doubt, as a possible double agent.
These humiliations prove to be transformative. Paul becomes so humble that he will accept
hardship, torture, even execution.
Nothing is too great for him to endure in order to complete the mission
given to him by the Lord.
It is interesting that Francis does not use “humbling”
but “humiliation.” Humbling would be
less radical, more a regular step toward self-knowledge. Humiliation implies an inflated self-image
that calls for considerable downsizing.
Francis is suggesting, perhaps, what our mothers tried to teach us. We must learn the world does not center
around us. Rather we have to serve in it,
above all, the God who has created and redeemed us.
