31st Sunday of the Year A

Lord it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror
'cos I get better looking each day to know me is to love me.
I must be a hell of a man. O Lord it's hard to be humble
but I'm doing the best that I can.

This could be the song of the Pharisees in today’s Gospel. The Pharisees had a reputation of putting lots of burdens on people regarding the law and thinking that they were humble when in fact they were no humble at all. They saw themselves as perfect and others as worthless. Jesus could not stand religious hypocrisy and this false sense of humility.

So what are the signs that we need to watch out for. Jesus points to three things. They do not practice what they preach. They demand more of others than they do of themselves. They crave attention and are caught up in the trappings of honour. They are focused on self and not on others or God. It becomes a fundamental religion so it becomes a set of principles and laws rather than worship of God which is what we are made for. And I am aware that today some priests of the Church put unfair burdens on people or do not practice what they preach. Or get caught up in the position they hold and willed authority over people.  

To be humble then is to try our best to be authentic. To practice what we preach, live for others and not for ourselves. To put others first and ourselves last. And if we have a position of authority not be caught up in the trappings of that authority and try our best to be a servant for others.

The other way to find a meaning of humility for ourselves is to look at the opposite of it which is pride. This leads me back to the song I quoted at the beginning. It is full of pride and self praise seeing ourselves as better than others. It is the look at me cultures the culture of self: Where I am the centre of my own universe which is a very dangerous place to be. A place where we seek glorification, praise and we do this sometimes without thinking. For example when we have done something that we found to be good we may say to another “What did you think about that?” Seeking an instant hit of praise to give ourselves a quick fix. We put ourselves first before God.  I know I fall into this trap quite often.

 IF we find ourselves getting like this, and trust me we all do sometimes let us look at the example of Jesus himself. Here was a man who washed the feet of his disciples, listened and acted upon what he heard. And put God at the centre of our lives. He was a man of prayer and allowed himself to be used by God even to accepting Death.  

I am lastly reminded of a story from Henri Nouwen an outstanding spiritual writer. He was sensitive to the lack of appreciation or attention he was getting. In the midst of one of these moments he remembered the advice given by Mother Theresa “When you spend one hour adoring your Lord and do anything you know to be wrong, you’ll be fine” He later confessed “She punctured my big balloon of complex self-complaints and pointed me far beyond myself to a place of real healing” Anyone who exults themselves will be humbled, and anyone who humbles self will be exulted.

The internationally renowned priest and author, respected professor and beloved pastor Henri Nouwen (pronounced Henry Now-win) wrote over 40 books on the spiritual life. He corresponded regularly in English, Dutch, German, French and Spanish with hundreds of friends and reached out to thousands through his Eucharistic celebrations, lectures and retreats. Since his death in 1996, ever-increasing numbers of readers, writers, teachers and seekers have been guided by his literary legacy. Nouwen’s books have sold over 2 million copies and been published in over 22 languages.
Born in Nijkerk, Holland, on January 24, 1932, Nouwen felt called to the priesthood at a very young age. He was ordained in 1957 as a diocesan priest and studied psychology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. In 1964 he moved to the United States to study at the Menninger Clinic. He went on to teach at the University of Notre Dame, and the Divinity Schools of Yale and Harvard. For several months during the 1970s, Nouwen lived and worked with the Trappist monks in the Abbey of the Genesee, and in the early 1980s he lived with the poor in Peru. In 1985 he was called to join L’Arche in Trosly, France, the first of over 100 communities founded by Jean Vanier where people with developmental disabilities live with assistants. A year later Nouwen came to make his home at L’Arche Daybreak near Toronto, Canada. He died suddenly on September 21st, 1996, in Holland and is buried in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
Nouwen believed that what is most personal is most universal; he wrote, “By giving words to these intimate experiences I can make my life available to others.” His spirit lives on in the work of the Henri Nouwen Society, Henri Nouwen Stichting, the Henri Nouwen Trust, the Henri J. M. Nouwen Archives and Research Collection, and in all who live the spiritual values of communion, community and ministry, to which he dedicated his life.