Daily Reflection – 3/7/2023
Sacred Scripture
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens (hard to carry) and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’ As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Messiah. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:1-12)
Reflection
“They preach but do not practice.”
The world doesn’t change much. Here Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees for not matching their outward demeaner with the same inner spirit. And so, it goes on.
More than 2,000 years later, we encounter far too many – in religious institutions and around us as neighbors — who spend more time playing the part of a Christian but not matching it with a life centered on Christ.
In each case, pride is the cause and the cancer. People wants so much to be complimented, so much to be noticed, so much to be held up as a model that they get caught up in an alternate reality. An alternate reality where the spirit of Christ does not exist.
There is nothing wrong with receiving a compliment or being held up as a model . . . as long as the exterior is matched by a mirror like inner life.
The gift – the grace – that makes it happen is humility.
Humility.
A word so often misunderstood and misused.
We can easily mistake humility as something demeaning or harmful to our sense of well-being and feeling good about ourselves. True humility is not feeling bad about yourself, or having a low opinion of yourself, or thinking of yourself as inferior to all others.
True humility frees us from preoccupation with ourselves, whereas a low self-opinion tends to focus our attention on ourselves.
Humility is truth in self-understanding and truth in action. Viewing ourselves honestly, with sober judgment, means seeing ourselves the way God sees us (Psalm 139:1-4).
Humility helps us to be teachable so we can acquire true knowledge, wisdom, and an honest view of reality. It directs our energy, zeal, and our desire to give ourselves to something greater than ourselves.
Humility frees us to love and serve others willingly and selflessly, for their own sake, rather than for our own glory and approbation.
Humility enables us to be comfortable with our good qualities as well as our failures.
Humility is about being honest and true about our lives and being comfortable with that person.
Humility is sincerity and genuineness. And when people see this quality in us they are impressed.
Paul the Apostle gives us the greatest example and model of humility in the person of Jesus Christ, who emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and… who humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:7-8).
What could be a greater model than God sending His Son to suffer and die for us on the cross so we might live ?
And how do we become humble? It begins with recognizing that we are children of God. Children that Our Father so loved that he sent His son to die on a cross so that we could be with Him forever. As children, all that we are comes from Him and all that we can be is a gift from Him. Recognizing the “otherness” of our creation, recognizing that we were created to emulate Him in our daily life is both sobering and uplifting.
Each of us needs to reflect on how genuine we are.
Pray that God will help us strip away every false image of ourselves so that the true inner self can shine forth. When we humble ourselves in this way then God will take us and exalt us in His way so that our hearts can be seen and loved by those around us.
Prayer of The Day
“Lord, teach me your way of servanthood and humility that I may walk in love as you have loved. Fill me with the joy of servanthood that I may inspire others to walk in your way of happiness and holiness.”
Daily Note
What is true Christ-like humility? The Lord Jesus gives us his heart – the heart of a servant who seeks the good of others and puts their interests first in his care and concern for them. There is no greater model.
