HUMILITY AS THE STARTING MARK INTO CHRIST


TUESDAY, THIRTY FIRST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

Phil 2:5-11; Ps 22:26-32; Lk 14:15-24

Our Vocation Starts on the Mark of Humility

As Jesus Christ became all things for all men that he may save us all, our vocation to Jesus Christ implies identification with our brothers and sisters in all walks of life in imitation of Jesus Christ. As we reflected yesterday, the success of our priestly mission is to the degree we enter into the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Since Jesus Christ is the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, we have a spiritual journey into his Godhead. Thanks to God for the gift of the Holy Spirit, who will guide us into the divine mystery. Awareness of this great mystery must fill our minds and condition it through faith and deep humility. This foundational virtue makes the journey possible in the first place; no one can proceed in this journey without it. St. Paul says humility conditions our minds into that of Jesus Christ. “In your minds you must be the same as Christ Jesus: His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are; and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross.” So, humility positions us on our marks as human persons, and our awareness of the divinity of Jesus makes us ready to commence the journey into his mystery.

In this passage, Paul refers to the human mind of Jesus Christ to help us get ready for our vocation to Jesus Christ. As a man, he distanced himself from his equality with the Father; that is, he put off his divine consciousness and looked at it as a goal to attain. He did this to identify with us and looked at his Father and Godhead from a viewpoint common to all of us as human persons. We can all place ourselves in this starting position that the Lord showed us. Two things are essential for us to be at this starting mark: first is the awareness of our fallen and weak human nature that is prone to death; second is the possession of a faith-view or understanding of the Godhead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These essentials are not within our human ability but are given to us with the gift of Christian repentance. Thus, the subsequent journey is a Christian journey and not a humanistic journey. To say that what we commence thenceforth is a Christian journey is to say that the agency properly belongs to God and not us. We called it a spiritual or mystical journey because the Holy Spirit leads us into the mystery of Jesus Christ. Paul refers to the divine agency in the following words: “But God raised him high and gave him the name which is above all other names so that all beings in the heavens, on earth and in the underworld, should bend the knee at the name of Jesus and that every tongue should acclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of the Father.”

The journey we commence once we place ourselves at the mark for the spiritual journey, through repentance and profession of faith in Jesus Christ, is a gradual admittance into the life of God. We gradually grow in our participation in the will of the Father. The divine will is the heavenly banquet we celebrate daily at the Eucharistic communion. Our Lord taught this to those gathered around the table enjoying the meal at the Pharisee’s house. A man alluded to the blessedness of those to gather at the heavenly table. The Lord subtly informed him that the invitation for the great and eternal banquet is open to all; while the poor are already entering the banquet hall, the worldly contented are making excuses for themselves. “There was a man who gave a great banquet, and he invited a large number of people. When the time for the banquet came, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, “Come along: everything is ready now.” But all alike started to make excuses.” The Lord is telling us that whoever acquires this poor and humble mindset by repentance, is already on the journey to Jesus Christ. None is excluded from the banquet unless the one who remains aloof in ignorance of self and God. The Psalmist says this fulfils our vows to the Lord at baptism. “My vows I will pay before those who fear the Lord. The poor shall eat and shall have their fill. They shall praise the Lord, those who seek him. May their hearts live forever and ever!”

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace of true repentance of heart and mind, that placing ourselves at the mark of our spiritual journey by possessing the mind of Jesus Christ, we may make giant strides on our journey to the eternal banquet at the wedding feast of your beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 


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