Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo, bishop
(Romans 14:7-12; Luke 15:1-10)
St. Paul asks, perhaps rhetorically, “…why
do you look down on your brother and sister?’
The question is not difficult to answer.
People look down on one another in order to make themselves seem
superior. Since others, looking down
upon them, made them feel subservient, they want to have the pleasure of looking
down upon others. It seems to be an
endless chain of unequal relations.
Paul, however, notes that the vicious cycle
has been broken. Christ has died for all. Those who believe in him are lifted up so
high that they are not subservient to anyone.
Yet they live in humble submission to Christ. Doing so, they do not insist on their own
will, but try accommodating their will to others’.
St. Charles Borromeo at least listened to
others. He is famous for calling many councils
and synods as Archbishop of Milan. His
sense of humble service was highlighted in his personal care for plague victims
in the sixteenth century.
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