THE POWER OF HUMILITY


SUNDAY, FOURTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME  

Zeph 2:3,3:12-13 Ps 146:6-10; 1 Cor 1:26-31; Mt 5:1-12

How Happy are the Poor in Spirit

The Word of God is God from the beginning, for he bears the same nature as the Father. He originates from the Father as the true and perfect expression of Him. The Father gives us the Word that he may dwell with us and make us to be like God. To be like God implies that we contain the Word of God and derive our inspiration and motivation from it. That we may contain the Word of God, who contains all things and through whom all things exist, we must be empty of what belongs to us. We must be humble and devoid of self. Humility is the virtue that arises deep within, from the foundation of our spirit in recognition of our nothingness before God. It is the requirement for spiritual life or the foundation for our spirit, for no one is born of God who has no need of God. Thus, our Lord informed the scribes and Pharisees that those who have need of the doctor are the sick and not the healthy. Reflecting back on the origin of sin, we recognise that the serpent aimed his insidious attack or snare at this very foundation of our spirit, for he incited our first parents to be self-sufficient. It was a terrible snare aimed to make them open their minds and hearts indirectly to him. The self-sufficiency was a farce, for it was a ploy to inhabit man in place of the eternal Word of God; we were created to contain.

A deep understanding of the devilish snare opens our eyes to the importance of humility in our spiritual battle against the serpent and his cohorts. Being the proud one, who refuses to serve, humility easily defeats and unmask his snare and identity. The virtue of humility is able to achieve this because it makes God present within us. It is usually said that nature abhors a vacuum. The saying is true in spiritual reality; God immediately fills our souls with the light of his word when we humble ourselves before him, which is a self-emptying act. It is not only self-emptying, but also evil-emptying. The truth is that evil needs self in order to latch itself onto our souls. So, the act of self-emptying or humility empties us of the evil contents. Based on the prerequisite nature of humility in the service or worship of God, the prophet Zephaniah refers to those who worship God as the humble of the earth. “Seek the Lord, all you, the humble of the earth, who obey his commands. Seek integrity, seek humility: you may perhaps find shelter on the day of the anger of the Lord.” Our very act and virtue of humility provide us shelter from every danger, from God’s wrath directed against the proud and arrogant; for while these contain evil and cooperate with demons, the humble contain God by containing his Word, who is our defence from every danger and trouble. Hence, God promises to leave the humble secure in the land. “In your midst I will leave a humble and lowly people, and those who are left in Israel will seek refuge in the name of the Lord.”

The responsory to the Psalm, from the beatitudes, takes up the same understanding and proclaims the poor in spirit happy. “How happy are the poor in spirit: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The humble are regarded as spiritually poor because their self-emptying makes them detached from every creature and regards every possession of theirs as nothing without God. When we are humble, God fills us through his word; our possession of the Word is the eternal kingdom of heaven, which becomes ours here on earth. The Son of Man’s proclamation of the kingdom of heaven was initiated with a call to repentance and metanoia, which is self-emptying. All who heeded the call are made subjects of the kingdom of heaven. Saint Paul, therefore, invited the Corinthians to reflect on their own conversion story and see if any self-acclaimed worldly-minded person was found among them. “Take yourselves for instance, brothers, at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning.”

Humility is a principal virtue in our spiritual life and, therefore, demon-chasing. The fact of it being the foundation of our spiritual life and commencement of the kingdom of heaven within us is shown in the fact that it is the first characteristic virtue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Being a self-proof virtue makes it fundamental in God’s creation of enmity between the woman and the serpent, between her offspring and its offspring. The Son of Man, the Word Incarnate, was most humble in his coming as man. He confirms all these in the beatitude by pronouncing the first blessedness on the humble or poor in spirit. “How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Happy the gentle: they shall have the earth for their heritage. Happy those who mourn: they shall be comforted. Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right: they shall be satisfied. Happy the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them. Happy the pure in heart: they shall see God.” All the following beatitudes or blessedness are derived and founded on the virtue of humility, without which nothing is holy or pure or worthy of God. Since God is the one acting in all the blessed souls, building up his heavenly kingdom among us, humility must be established in all of us that God may firmly incorporate us into the building and operate with us to build his eternal dwelling among men.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord our God, that we may honour you with our mind, and love everyone in truth of heart. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. 

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