Thursday of the Sixteenth Week of Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

“You have revealed to little ones the mystery of the Kingdom” (MT 11:25)

Jesus praises God for revealing His secrets to children, to those who are little. Children start life without preconceived notions and prejudices so they often are more open to receiving God’s graces. We can’t stay young forever, so we need to develop a good spirit, a Gospel attitude, to open ourselves to receiving the “mystery of the Kingdom.” The best way to do this is to live in humility. Humility offers a cure to almost any sin if it is readily embraced, and it forms other good virtues. Humility leads to peace and good living when it finds home in a soul.

Who is better to teach us about humility than St. Benedict himself? Some would call St. Benedict “the Doctor of Humility.” He defined 12 steps for humility. All the Saints endorsed humility and lived it in different contexts and lifetimes. No one seems to have defined it so thoroughly or as intensely as St. Benedict. If you read those 12 steps in the Rule of St. Benedict, you may find some that shock you or even seem degrading to you.

Take for example the idea of accepting even unjust treatment. This is entirely contrary to many American and 21st Century sentiments. Yet St. Benedict endorses these steps to help a soul “ascend” to God through them. They are not meant to leave you living in despair. Remember, Benedict’s steps to humility lead “to the love that casts out fear.” Benedict didn’t write that hoping to make people hate themselves. He knew the truth about humility. It leads to selfless love. He wanted his followers to have a humility that leads to a love of God and a love of neighbor. And you can only do that if you see yourself in reality. Live in the reality of being God’s creation. You are not perfect. You are not pathetic. You are not found yet, and you are not totally lost either. You are challenged, yet not overcome. I say it again. Live in the reality of who you are.

Eastern religions hold the idea that the self is an illusion, and the self must be annihilated to reach union with an eternal oneness. Christianity does not hold so morbid a view of the self. Your “self” is who you are. It is no illusion. Yet the self is not the only thing that matters. You have to deny yourself to come closer to God.

God calls all of us to share in Himself, and thus you will find fulfillment only when your “self” is united to God. There is much to be said about finding your “true self.” Let’s just leave it at this; knowing the truth about who you are leads to self-awareness. Self-awareness leads to self-acceptance, and this leads to self-gift. We can give of ourselves to God and others. This is a grace from God. Then you can see people in the way God sees them as well.

Reflection: Be honest with yourself. How humble are you really? What parts of your character do you need to introduce to humility? Take these thoughts to prayer today.

Reflection by Br. Matthew Marie, OSB