FOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, December 29, 2023
(Zephaniah 2,3.3,12-13; I Corinthians 1,26-31; Matthew 5,
1-12ª)
Few people want to be saints. Most think of holiness as
boring. They say that they would rather be cheerful and adventurous as if there
were no very cheerful and adventurous saints. One thing for sure is that Jesus
has taught that one cannot enter the Kingdom of God without being holy. He has
called the whole world to holiness. That is why a famous Catholic author once
said: "The only tragedy in life is not to become a saint."
The beatitudes of today’s gospel serve as a description of
holiness. They are placed at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount to
indicate the goal of Christian morality. The saints are "poor in
spirit." They “mourn” over their sins and the sins of others. They are
also meek, long-suffering, or humble, depending on the translation of our
Bible. These first three beatitudes show that holiness is rooted in humility.
Contrary to our way of thinking, poverty of spirit is not a lack of
self-esteem. Rather, it is recognizing ourselves as sons and daughters of God,
the Father, ever confident of his protection. Once a missionary visited a
village in the mountains of Honduras. Because it was the day after Christmas,
he asked the campesino children about their Christmas presents. Each responded
that his present was a gift for the infant Jesus, not what he received from
Santa Claus. They told how they would pray more to Jesus or pay more attention
to their household chores. This is true "poverty of spirit."
Saint Augustine recognized the paramount importance of
humility when he wrote: "If you asked me what are the ways of God, I would
tell you that the first is humility, the second is humility, and the third is
humility." In other words, if we do not cultivate humility, we are lost.
Saint Paul would agree. In the second reading he exalts humility as God's
strategy to save the world. He says that God did not choose the rich and
educated but the weak to show the power of the cross of Christ.
In addition to gaining eternal life through humility, we can
give other reasons to humble ourselves. The most significant is that we are
imitating Jesus. As Paul writes to the Philippians, the Son of God emptied
himself of divinity to assume the human condition. Also, humility fosters
cooperation between people. In a famous speech from a Shakespearean drama, King
Henry V of England won the support of his troops by speaking to them with
humility. They were far outnumbered by the enemy, but because he called them
his “brothers”, they prevailed. Finally, we want to be humble because it is
very possible that the other person is more accomplished than us. We have all
had the experience of misjudging another person's ability, possibly causing
ourselves embarrassment and the other person insult.
A formidable human passion makes us resist being humble.
Because of pride we love to think of ourselves as prettier, smarter, or
stronger than others. It’s the devil's work to make us consider ourselves among
the best without need of other’s assistance. If the devil is successful in this
endeavor, we would be isolated, deceived, and inclined to do something awful.
So how can we avoid pride and attain holiness? First, as
Saint Paul says in the same Letter to the Philippians, let us consider others
as superior to ourselves. In fact, in one respect or another, they are. Second,
let's be willing to forgive other people's faults. Further in the list of
beatitudes, Jesus highlights mercy. This disposition allows us to assume the
feelings of others so that we can forgive them. Finally, humility, so
challenging in this world permeated with Facebook and Instagram, requires
prayer. We have to pray every day: “Make me humble like you, Lord”.
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