Our late Pope Francis had the practice of washing feet on Holy Thursday, most often the feet of prisoners in Roman jails. Jesus, of course, washed the feet of those gathered at the Last Supper. He did it to show them that he was their servant and friend, not only their Lord. This week’s first Scripture reading, from Sirach, proclaims: “Humble yourself the more, the greater you are, and you will find favor with God.” Jesus picks up that theme in our Gospel. He was attending a banquet where everyone was choosing the best place at the table. Instead, Jesus said, “go and take the lowest place … for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled…”
Like many virtues, humility is about not doing something as well as doing something. It’s about not bragging about achievements and victories. It’s about not making others look bad so I look good. It’s about not taking all the credit for something I did well that also involved contributions of others. It’s about not “one-upping” all the time, by claiming to know even more important people than someone else, to have traveled more widely than someone else, to have better ideas than someone else, to have more followers on Instagram — more of so many other things that make us seem better in comparison with others. But humility is also about a positive action — service. Service starts from seeing the needs of others, “taking the place of the other” in our consciousness. This notice of the other puts the “me” in second place so that I can respond to the other’s need instead of my own.
Already in the late sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great adopted the title of “Servant of the servants of God” for himself, the highest authority of our Church, and all subsequent popes have embraced that title. In the Gospels, greatness is service, authority is service. You know a humble person when you see them serving.
— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia
The post August 31, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Humility: a Sunday Scriptures blog first appeared on Sisters of the Precious Blood.