(Optional)
Memorial of Saint Martin de Porres (religious)
(Philippians
2:5-11; Luke 14:15-24)
As St. Paul
exhorts the Philippian community to think of one another as better than
themselves, he offers Jesus as a model. Although
he was the incarnate God, Jesus did not lord over anyone. Rather, he twice humbled himself. First, he became human to identify with sin-laden
men and women. Then, he gave himself to
an excruciating death to pay back the debt of sin of all.
St. Martin
imitated Christ’s humility. Because he thought
of himself as inferior to others, Martin several times refused to profess as a
religious. He did severe penance,
including repeated flagellation every night, as penance for sin. As a result, the people of Lima and the
surrounding area considered him a saint at the time of his death.
In the age
of Instagram, humility has been largely abandoned. We want to see ourselves as good as most
people and better than many. We see
Christ as the one to adore, more than to imitate. Martin has become a symbol of racial
equality, more than a model of service. Now
is the time to realign these priorities.
Humility is primary because it retraces the route of our Savior, Jesus
Christ, and of our unsurpassable patron, Martin de Porres.
